


Love Bites, Love Bleeds... Love Lives

by Whiteheart97



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: (more tags will be added), And a lot of Original Plot, And fluffy af, BAMF!Iris, But also from the books, But it's always good time for siblings bonding, But not more than Valentine, Camille will give some trouble, Confused!Lydia, F/F, F/M, M/M, Malec is OTP, Mostly freeform, Post-Season Finale, Protective!Izzy, Rescuing Jace, They're cute, lots of plot twists, problems everywhere
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-19 06:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7349977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whiteheart97/pseuds/Whiteheart97
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Jace by Valentine's side, Jocelyn awake, the broken alliance with the vampires, Lydia back in Idris, Camille out and about around New York, and the Clave not very happy with the current situation, everything is upside down in the New York Institute.</p><p>Alec is now on charge during their parents' abscence, but two Shadowhunters and a half are not enough to keep the demons —and Valentine— at bay, not with everything that's going on at the same time.<br/>But someone unexpected comes to the rescue of our favorite Shadowhunters, and her determination, strength, and skills at shadowhunting will be more than welcome at the Institute. But this will also lead to more secrets, more unauthorized missions, and lots more of trouble. And when you also add unrequited love and love triangles (squares? polygons?), the result of all of this can only be deadly.</p><p>Will those young Shadowhunters come alive and in one piece of this war? And more importantly, will they conquer their own internal wars and fears?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Unexpected Visitor

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dirty Lair Squad™](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Dirty+Lair+Squad%E2%84%A2).



> Hello everyone!!
> 
> As I mentioned (a long time ago) in my first fic, I have this crazily awesome idea in my head for a fic and, though I'm still struggling to write (because this fic is giving me more trouble than I previously thought it would —plus, I'm taking driving lessons every day—), I wanted to start posting it anyway.
> 
> Don't worry if this doesn't make any sense at first (especially when you have only read the summary and tags, bcs they're just there to mess up with your minds —they mess up with mine too—).  
> If the first chapters leave you thinking "What the hell is happening here?", or "Who the hell is this girl?", don't worry, it will all make sense eventually.  
> I'm also aware that you know NOTHING of this girl Iris that I came up with, but I will tell ALL about her slowly, so don't worry (by the end of the fic you'll know everything about her and more).  
> The first chapters will be focused precisely on introducing this Original Character, so I apologize if you find it boring/not related to the main story, but this chapters are necessary if I want all this story to make sense.
> 
> I also have to admit that I have no idea where all of this is going, especially the whole pairing world (bcs I don't know who I want to be endgame and who won't be —except for Malec, they're always endgame for me—), but I'll make it work, I swear (YOU CAN TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS WHO YOU WANT TO BE ENDGAME).
> 
> A big thank you to my friends from the Dirty Lair Squad™ group chat, I'd probably never have written this if not for you (and you also helped me to come up with the title), so yeah, this is for you, guys ♥♥
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like this mess that I came up with, and pls, let me know your opinion in the comments!
> 
> Enjoy!! xx ♥♥  
> -C
> 
> ***REMINDER that English is NOT my native language, so sorry for any mistakes, feel free to point them out to me.
> 
> So, without further ado, here you have the first chapter!!:

_ Chapter 1: An Unexpected Visitor _

 

Ever since Jace left with Valentine the Institute had been immersed in a complete chaos. First, with Jocelyn finally awake, it was Clary's duty to inform her of everything that had happened —beginning with her first steps in the Shadow World, to kind of dating Jace, to Simon turning into a vampire, to finding out Jace was her brother, and finally how it all went crumbling down (even more so) when Valentine forced Jace into joining him so Clary, Simon, Izzy, Magnus and Alec were safe.

 

Besides that, there was also the problem of the broken alliance with the vampires —all due to their necessity to find the Book of the White in order to wake up Jocelyn.

 

Lydia returned to Idris a few days after Hodge's betrayal. She took him with her to put him under arrest in a high security prison, watched night and day by Inquisitor Herondale.

 

Everything was going more or less well —if they ignored the obvious problems. Maryse, Robert and Max were temporarily in Idris, so Alec was in charge of the Institute. It was clear that, without Jace, the Institute was in serious need of a well-trained Shadowhunter to help Izzy and Alec in their missions, since Clary was way too busy with her mother, Luke, and obsessing over getting Jace back. They had asked Lydia to return again and again, which she had refused every time by saying she shouldn't go back, not yet at least. They even asked the Clave to send back up, but they refused as well. They were desperate to find someone to join them...

 

And then it happened. One day, while Izzy and Alec were on patrol, they spotted a tall, slim figure in the dark. It seemed from a woman dressed all in black. It was weird how she seemed to be looking in their direction, since they were using a glamour and it was impossible for a mundane to see them.

 

Izzy looked at Alec expectantly, waiting for an order. He simply nodded and they both waddled to her direction in sync. The girl rounded the corner and walked away from them. Izzy raised a questioning eyebrow at her brother and started walking faster, almost running. Then they reached a dead end street, and the girl was nowhere to be seen.

 

“What the...” Izzy mumbled, looking up and down the buildings surrounding them.

“I have no idea what is going on, Iz” Alec muttered as an answer.

 

They got back to the Institute only to find that their parents and Max were back again. They were surprised, to say the least, by this sudden twist of events. Maryse and Robert weren't supposed to get back for at least three more weeks. Alec couldn't help wondering what could possibly be going so horribly wrong that they were already back.

 

Then they noticed. The rather familiar, tall and slim girl sitting in a chair across the room, listening intently to whatever Jocelyn and Luke were telling her. She seemed to notice their gaze fixed on her because she immediately looked up and straight at them. Suddenly, both Alec and Isabelle remembered who the girl was. Izzy smiled widely and run towards the girl, wrapping her in a tight hug.

 

“Iris! What are you doing here?” Isabelle asked about a minute later, when she finally let go of the girl.

“That’s a bit silly of you to ask, isn’t it? I heard you needed back up and here I am”

“Is that why mom and dad are already back?” Isabelle asked as she realized that she was probably the reason of their sudden return.

“Well, yeah, they’re not very happy that I’m here. But there’s nothing they can do to send me back to Idris”

“How so? Last time we heard from you, you were in Spain, running the Madrid Institute” Isabelle started as she guided her eldest sister to her bedroom, where they could talk privately. Alec, who was still around, saw them leaving the room and immediately followed them.

“It’s complicated. I’ll tell you everything in time. Right now I’d just like to spend some time with my family” she turned around to face Alec, startling him with the sudden motion. “Hello, Alec!” a giggle escaped her lips at the sight of Alec’s expression. “How’s it going?” she quickly wrapped her arms around her —considerably taller— younger brother.

“Everything alright… Despite the obvious problems going around, you know” he recomposed himself while hugging back his sister and smiled at her when they parted.

“Oh yeah, I know. Luke and Jocelyn just told me. It’s quite the situation the one you have going on. But don’t worry, I’m here to help” she smiled at them, trying to comfort her siblings. “So, I must say that I’m a bit disappointed I wasn’t invited to your almost wedding” she said mockingly.

“You missed nothing” Alec laughed at the sudden change of topic.

“But I did! Wow, my face when I heard that ‘someone in the New York Institute stopped his own wedding to smooch another man; a warlock, no less’. Everyone is talking about it in the Madrid Institute, and in Idris. Now I’m just excited to meet this warlock that stole your heart” she smirked and looked at Isabelle. “And I’m hoping you two can introduce me to this Clarissa Fairchild girl and her friend, Sheldon?”

Isabelle laughed loudly. “It’s Simon”

“I knew it started with an S” Iris laughed and walked to her own bedroom. “Now I’d like to have a rest after a long day of travelling —and putting up with mom’s continuous speeches about ‘how I dare to come here instead of staying in Idris and assuming the charge they fought so hard for me to get’, as if the Clave had given me the privilege of staying in Idris and run the Madrid Institute just because I’m a Lightwood, I was the one to fight for it”

“I’m sure of that” Isabelle smiled at her. “It’s okay. We’ll probably be downstairs when you wake up, or in the library with Max”

“I’ll look for you then” Iris smiled and hugged her siblings one last time. “I’ve missed you so much, both of you” when she parted, the smile was still playing on her lips. Then, she turned around and entered her room without another glance at them.

“I really hope she can help us” Isabelle muttered when they were both alone.

“She is one of the best Shadowhunters in the whole Shadow World, we all know that, she sure can help”

“I’m just happy she is here. I missed her, Lightwoods should stick together”

“Well, now she is here. We can make up for lost time while we plan how to fight Valentine”

“That actually sounds good” Isabelle smiled at him and reached for her phone. “I’ll let Clary know that she should drop by the Institute with Simon. You should do the same and call Magnus, our sister wants to meet him”

“Where are they anyway? I haven’t seen them in days, where are they staying?”

“At Simon’s. Since he betrayed the vampires, he has nowhere to go except his mundane house with his mundane family. Clary is staying with him to help him, you know, things could get complicated for him living with mundanes”

“As long as they don’t put us in deeper water, I’m fine with whatever they do”

“You need to relax, big bro. Everything is going to be fine”

“My Parabatai rune is still burning, I can’t help thinking that Jace is in danger”

“You can’t think like that, Alec; Jace is fine. If we start believing he is suffering… We’ll go crazy”

“I guess you’re right…” he sighed. “I’ll go call Magnus, maybe he can drop by later to meet Iris”

“Yeah, you do that” Isabelle smiled fondly at her brother. “He makes you happy, you know. I only see you smiling when you talk about him”

“Shut up, Isabelle” Alec rolled his eyes before leaving his sister alone in the hallway.

 

 

***

 

 

“So you wanted to see me?” Magnus’ voice came from the Institute’s entrance. Isabelle, who was sitting in a chair next to Alec while their parents debated which tactic they should follow to fight Valentine and bring Jace back, lifted her head and looked at Magnus, who was ceremoniously approaching them. Robert and Maryse spared him a disapproving look before standing from their chairs and leaving the room. Alec immediately got up and went to greet his boyfriend.

“Hey, Magnus” Isabelle greeted without moving from where she was sitting. “We want you to meet someone. Alec didn’t tell you when he called you?”

“Alexander told me to come, but he didn’t say anything about a visitor that I should meet” Magnus looked up at his boyfriend, who shrugged as if that piece of information wasn’t necessary.

“Isabelle” a feminine voice came from the hallway. It was Clary, and Simon was with her.

“Clary, Simon” Isabelle said cheerfully. “Nice to see you again”

“I guess we should go and call her” Alec started, but then he was cut off by another feminine voice coming from the bedrooms’ corridor.

“Call who?” Iris made her appearance and walked down the stairs gracefully. “Magnus Bane” her face lit up at the sight of the High Warlock of Brooklyn. “Long time no see”

“I could say the same, Miss Lightwood” Magnus walked towards her and kissed her cheek.

“Wait a minute” Isabelle interrupted. “You know each other?”

“But of course” Iris said quickly. “He’s the High Warlock of Brooklyn, and enjoys travelling a bit too much… We met in London a few years ago”

“Like ten years ago or so” Magnus added. “Last time I saw her it was in Madrid, when she had just been chosen Head of the Institute. Why are you here?”

“To help, of course. Since Jace is no longer by our side, I decided to come and help my family”

“How considerate of you, Iris” Magnus said smirking. Both of them slowly approached the rest of them.

“Why didn’t you tell us that you knew our sister?” it was Alec who asked.

“I didn’t think it was actually that important. I know a lot of people” Magnus said matter-of-factly.

“So you know each other well?” Isabelle stated.

“Quite well, I’d say” Magnus said with a smile directed towards Iris. “She is one of my best friends”

“Well, I’m honored” Iris smiled back at him and then something hit her. “Wait… Is he… Is Magnus the warlock that you kissed at your wedding?” Iris raised a questioning eyebrow at Alec. He immediately flushed but nodded hesitantly. “I can’t believe I didn’t know this!” she yelled angrily. “My brother and my best friend… You’d say that I had to be aware of this. I could actually expect this from Alec, but… Magnus! You tell me everything. It didn’t occur to you that I should know?”

“It happened just a few weeks ago. I was going to tell you, but with everything that’s going on lately… I didn’t find time to let you know”

“Well, a simple fire message telling me ‘Hey, I kissed your brother at his own wedding’ would have been nice”

Magnus laughed loudly. “Yeah, I guess I could have done that” Iris shot him a deadly glance.

“I’m sorry for interrupting, but Simon and I are kinda lost over here” Clary waved a hand as if to catch their attention as Simon nodded in agreement. They all turned to look at them.

“I’m guessing you are Clarissa Fairchild” Iris smiled at her and hold out her hand for Clary to shake it. “I’m Iris Lightwood”

Clary’s face contorted. “Lightwood? So it wasn’t a joke, you’re their sister” she nodded towards Alec and Isabelle. Iris nodded.

“I am. I was certainly curious about meeting you. Valentine’s daughter… You’re not what I expected, Clarissa”

“Call me Clary, please. And what do you mean by that?” she asked, furrowed brow.

“I mean, I heard things, in Idris mainly. I expected something more… Imposing” Isabelle giggled. “What's so funny, little sister? You haven’t heard what they say”

“And I don’t need to, I know what she’s capable of” Isabelle said with a smirk.

“And I’d be glad to find out” Iris’ smile in return was kind.

“So, you came because Jace is not here or is there another reason?” Clary asked, curiosity written all over her face.

“There are a few reasons. One is obviously what you said, but I also missed my family, and you needed back up, so here I am. Besides, Jace is like family to me; I don’t care if he is Valentine’s son, I want him back as much as you do”

“I’m almost positive you’ll get him back” Magnus put his right arm around Alec’s waist and rested his left one on Iris’ shoulder. “You all are the best Shadowhunters I have ever met; and among all the Shadowhunters that I’ve known, Iris is one of the bests. Valentine and his followers have nothing to do against you”

“He has the Mortal Cup” Alec reminded him. “He can control demons; that could be a great disadvantage for us”

“You have something that he doesn’t: you trust each other with your lives, that’s more that he’ll ever get from Jace or any of his followers”

“If we only could convince the vampires to help us in this war…” Clary muttered.

“After what you did and Simon’s betrayal?” Magnus hadn’t intended to hurt Simon with his words, but the vampire immediately looked down to his shoes, as if ashamed. “I don’t think Raphael will listen to you again” Magnus stated. “But, we could get some kind of truce. I could talk to him, maybe get the Clan to fight along with us in exchange of something… Like defeating Camille. We all win with her behind bars”

“If you can convince him, then go ahead. We’ll do everything in our power to defeat Valentine” Alec said with resolution.

“And I’ll be glad to put a Seraph blade to Camille’s throat” Iris added with a mix of disgust and anger in her voice.

Isabelle snorted. “Join the club” Iris looked up at her sister with a proud smile. Isabelle had always been a great Shadowhunter, deadly in battle and in life, self-confident, proud of who she was, but Iris had never seen that amount of hate in her gaze, the kind that could kill anyone who dared threaten her or her loved ones; Iris was very proud of her little sister.

 

“So” Clary said, interrupting her line of thoughts, “we need a plan to overthrow Valentine and bring Jace back. Magnus, why don’t you go and talk to Raphael first? If he agrees, it would be good to count him in for the plan. I’ll talk to my mother and Luke, I’m almost sure the pack will help us”

“And… while Magnus and you do that, what can the rest of us do?” Isabelle asked.

“Simon will come with me, you can either come with us, go with Magnus or talk to the Seelies” Clary offered.

Isabelle instantly smiled at that. “I’ll go talk to the Seelies. Alec, wanna come with me?”

Alec shook his head. “No, someone will have to stay at the Institute, don’t you think?”

Isabelle shrugged and looked at her sister. “Iris?”

“I rather go with Magnus” she answered, resolution clear in her eyes. “The vampires don’t know me yet, so it’s more likely that they will trust me more than they’d trust you”

“Just make sure you don’t tell Raphael you’re a Lightwood” Isabelle smiled widely at her before leaving the Institute.

“Why did she say that?” Iris pointed with her index finger towards the closing doors of the Institute while staring at Clary and Simon, a questioning eyebrow raised.

Simon shrugged. “Slight chance that she blew up a wall at the Hotel Dumort… And your brother too, and they also killed some vampires”

“I didn’t know you had a new hobby” Iris looked at her brother with a funny expression adorning her features.

“It had to be done” Alec replied harshly.

“Sure it had” Iris chuckled and she turned to look at Magnus. “Shall we?”

“After you” Magnus gestured towards the door with a flourish.

Iris started walking, but suddenly stopped next to Magnus to mumble in his ear: “You can take your time to say goodbye to my brother… Sure you know what I mean” she smiled as she made her way to the door, barely hearing the amused laugh that escaped from Magnus’ lips.

Though Magnus didn’t want to make her wait, he walked over to Alec and held the other’s hand. “We’ll be back soon” he assured Alec.

“Take your time, Raphael won’t be easy to persuade”

“He’s an old friend, he will listen to me” Magnus went on his tiptoes and gave Alec a short peck on the lips.

 

Iris smiled at the sight. She had always suspected Alec wasn’t straight, but when their parents announced that Alec was getting married to Lydia Branwell, she thought she didn’t know her brother well enough; and then, the rumors about Alec kissing Magnus spread all over the Shadow World and Iris was reassured in her beliefs about Alec’s sexuality. Alec smiled softly at Magnus before turning around and leaving the room. Magnus turned around slowly and walked towards Iris with a soft smile on his face.

 

“Wow” Iris muttered. “I never thought I’d see you like a love-sick puppy” there was a tiny bit of amusement in her voice that didn’t go unnoticed by Magnus.

“I never thought so either” Magnus agreed. “You know, after Camille I…”

“You closed yourself off to feelings, to any kind of emotion that could hurt you again. I know, you told me a thousand times” she hold back a laugh and instead she smiled fondly at her friend. “But I have to admit it, I’m glad you opened yourself to love once again, you deserve to be happy, Magnus”

“Thank you, Iris” Magnus held out a hand to her, which she took happily.

“No need to thank me for anything, Magnus” her smile grew wider as they stepped outside the Institute. “So, to the Hotel Dumort, then?” Magnus nodded and snapped his fingers while waving a hand in the air. Instantly a portal appeared in front of them and they stepped through it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, tell me in the comments what you thought.  
> This is mainly an experiment, so if you don't like it I'll probably quit writing it, because it's a lot of work and it's not like I have a lot of free time.
> 
> On a side note, I'll probably update every Friday or Saturday, but if sometime I have the new chapter written before that day I may as well post it before (and if it's not written entirely, the update day will be delayed.
> 
> Thank you for reading :) ♥♥


	2. New Alliances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!
> 
> No, I haven't changed my mind, I'm going to post on Fridays/Saturdays, but this is a BONUS chapter since my friends have been pressuring me (and I have written like two whole chapters more).
> 
> Hope you like this chapter too, I have a lot of things coming our way.  
> This second chapter is a bit similar to the first one, but in the next one you'll have a bit of Iris' backstory (of which you'll get some hints in the end of this chapter though).  
> Also, there are some expressions in Spanish here; you can check the translations at the end of the chapter ;)
> 
> Enjoy!! ♥♥  
> And leave me your opinion in the comments, please, that helps me improve :D  
> -C
> 
> [My friend Grace (@HarryMattMalec) has done some amazings edits for this fic, so if you want to see them I can post them somewhere!].

* * *

 

 

_ Chapter 2: New Alliances _

 

"What is this Shadowhunter doing here?" a masculine voice asked the moment Magnus and Iris stepped into the Hotel Dumort.

 

They were in the main room, and it was practically empty —except for two vampires, a man and a woman. Iris could see clearly the wall that had been recently repaired and she couldn't help but smile, knowing that her sister was the one to blow up that wall.

 

"She is a friend, Raphael, don't worry. She won't try to kill anyone" Magnus assured him with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

"Iris" she introduced herself. "I'm new at the New York Institute"

"Raphael Santiago. Leader of the vampire clan of New York" he replied dryly.

"Look, I heard what my fellow Shadowhunters did and you should know I don't approve. But a war is near, and Shadowhunters don't want to start yet another war with vampires. Magnus told me that you could be... Reasonable. I wanted to offer you a deal, one you won't want to turn down"

"You have my attention, Shadowhunter" Raphael said without excitement, but Iris caught a bit of curiosity in his tone. She smirked and then proceeded to explain.

"I know Camille is a threat for the vampire clan right now, but she is also a threat for the whole Shadow World, and we can't ignore that. Now, Valentine has threaten the peace between Downworlders and Shadowhunters; he wants war, he has the Mortal Cup, and he is creating an army of rough Shadowhunters and demons alike. We need to stop him, and together we can do it" Raphael tried to speak, but she wouldn't let him. "I know, we betrayed you once, why would you trust us again? That's why I didn't come here to ask for the vampires' help, but to offer a deal that will make both of us win"

" _Estoy malgastando mi tiempo contigo, así que date más prisa, niñita_ " Raphael seemed exasperated. Iris resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"The vampire clan help the Shadowhunters and the rest of the Downworld defeat Valentine and his army. In return, I will personally track down Camille and give you her head. _¿Qué te parece eso?_ "

" _Tentador… Realmente tentador_ " Raphael muttered.

"It's a trick, Raphael, don't listen to her. We don't even know who she is. Who assures us that she won't betray us just like the fledgling, the Fairchild and the Lightwood girl did?" the female vampire next to him talked.

"I swear on the Angel, I'm not lying to you" Iris insisted.

"Your Angel means nothing to us, Shadowhunter" the woman spat.

"Lily" Raphael hissed. "A Shadowhunter would never swear on the Angel in vain. Magnus, you trust her?"

"With my life" Magnus answered and offered Iris a smile, which she returned gratefully.

"He is biased, Raphael, he's dating the eldest Lightwood" the woman —Lily— was persistent.

"My brother has nothing to do with this" Iris spat, barely holding back her impulses that screamed at her to kick the vampire girl on her ass.

" _¿Hermano?_ You're a Lightwood?" Raphael questioned, suddenly jumping from the couch.

"Yeah, and for the looks of it, the smart one" she confirmed with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Magnus fought to hold back a laugh —and he failed.

"We already made the mistake of trusting the Lightwoods once, do you think we're as stupid as to trust you again?"

"C'mon, Raphael, she didn't..." Magnus started.

“ _Tú no me conoces, no puedes juzgarme por lo que mis hermanos hicieron_ ” Iris interrupted. "If Magnus had judged me for what my parents did, he'd had never become my friend. But it is your decision, you decide whether to trust me or not; just know that I'll keep my promise and bring you Camille alive so you can decide what to do to her; though I'd love to kill her myself, and it definitely would be much easier that way"

 

Raphael turned in Lily’s direction and both stared at each other for a few moments, as if quietly asking each other’s opinion. After a few minutes Lily hesitantly nodded, which seemed to be what Raphael wanted her to do because he turned around to look at Iris and Magnus before nodding as well.

 

“Okay, we’ll trust you. We’ll fight on your side against Valentine, but you’ll hand us Camille as soon as Valentine is dead, you hear me?” Raphael pointed an accusatory index finger at Iris, as if threating her.

“You have my word; I swore on the Angel, remember?” Iris assured him and reached out a hand for Raphael to shake. “We have a deal?”

Raphael stared down at her hand for a moment in hesitation, but he finally took it and squeezed it. “Deal” he quickly dropped his hand and walked back to the couch, falling onto it. “One more thing: if you really do as you promised, we’ll forgive about the little... _incident_ with the Shadowhunters” Lily then leaned down to whisper something in Raphael’s ear. He rolled his eyes but nodded anyway. “And tell the fledgling he has to come here personally to ask for forgiveness if he wants to be accepted back in the clan”

“You may leave now” Lily said, gesturing towards the door. Magnus looked at Iris and nodded before opening a portal.

“ _Un placer hacer negocios contigo, Raphael Santiago_ ” Iris said when she was about to step through the portal behind Magnus.

“ _Lo mismo digo, Iris Lightwood_ ” a small smile appeared on her lips as she walked through the portal to go back to the Institute.

 

When they arrived, everything was almost the same it was when they left, except for Isabelle was back. She smiled at them both when she saw them appear and quickly went to greet them.

 

“Back so soon? I thought it’d take you longer to convince Raphael”

“It wasn’t as hard as you’d think it would” Iris replied with a smirk.

“And your sister here is a complete master when it comes to business. She got Raphael to accept her deal quite easily”

“That’s not true, he almost backed off when I let it slip that I’m a Lightwood”

Isabelle snorted. “ _Me sorprende que no te escupiera en la cara al enterarse_ ”

Magnus rolled his eyes at the two sisters. “It’s the truth nonetheless; if it hadn’t been for you he’d never had accepted” Magnus retorted, and Iris rolled her eyes at him —which she’d been trying to avoid while they were at the Hotel Dumort.

 

The doors to the Institute opened suddenly and Clary, Simon, Luke and Jocelyn stepped through it. It seemed like it all went just fine with the werewolves —and also with the Seelies, since Isabelle was back too.

 

“Magnus, Iris” Jocelyn greeted them with a smile.

“I guess the werewolves are on our side?” Iris questioned Luke. He smiled widely and nodded. It seemed like he was about to say something, but he was cut off by Isabelle.

“The Seelies are with us too. Valentine has killed enough of their people already, and we saved Meliorn from the Silent Brothers”

“What about the vampires?” Clary asked, raised eyebrow, a bit of worry in her voice.

Iris and Magnus looked at each other, aware of the look Isabelle was throwing at them. Suddenly they couldn’t hold back any longer and started laughing.

“They’re on our side” Iris finally said.

“And what do they want in return? I’m sure Raphael didn’t accept out of the kindness in his heart” Clary asked, clearly more relaxed than before.

“He wants Camille. It won’t be easy, but I’ll manage. Raphael said he’ll consider whether to trust us again or not if I keep my word” Iris informed them, and then she remembered something else… “Oh, and he wants Simon to go to the Hotel Dumort and apologize...” Simon suddenly looked up at her in surprise, as if he had been sure Raphael would never forgive him. “What?” Iris asked when she noticed his gaze fixed on her.

“Nothing” he shook his head. “It’s just… I never thought that would happen; I thought he didn’t want to see me ever again.

Iris shrugged; she obviously didn’t get why the vampire behaves like he does either; Raphael Santiago is a real mystery, one that probably nobody truly understands.

“Then I think it’s time to make a new move” Clary said then. “Simon, go to the Hotel Dumort to talk to Raphael and apologize, then bring him and Lily here. Isabelle, tell Meliorn to come over to the Institute. The rest of us will set the meeting room for when they arrive”

“I’ll go find mom and dad to see if they’ll join us” Alec announced. “Though I doubt they will, with so many Downworlders around”

“You certainly have a point there” Magnus conceded with a sigh. “But you can always try at least”

Isabelle and Iris nodded in agreement before leaving the room. Soon the only ones left there were Jocelyn, Luke and Magnus, who stared at each other uncomfortably. About five minutes later, Alec and Isabelle returned and led them to the room they had set up for the meeting with the leading forces of each Downworld species. That was meant to be a long night.

 

 

***

 

 

Simon tugged at the long sleeves of his jacket as he stood by the door of the Hotel Dumort. He sighed deeply at least three times before daring to open the door. He didn’t know what would await him there, he just knew no one would be happy with him being here.

 

He stepped through the door taking small, tentative steps. If asked, he would probably say he wasn’t scared —which was totally not true—. He barely made it to the main room when one of the vampires —Damien, he vaguely recognized— grabbed him by the arm and pushed him against the nearest wall.

 

“What are you doing here, traitor?” Simon tried to speak, to defend himself, but the words got caught in his throat; in that moment he was unable to move, to speak. Then a familiar voice came to his ears, soothing him a little.

“ _Con eso es suficiente, Damien, gracias_ ” Raphael’s calmed voice echoed in his ears.

“But…” the other vampire tried. “But he is a traitor! He shouldn’t even try to come here”

“I asked him to come” Raphael assured him, earning a confused look from the other vampire. “I wanted to talk to him”

 

Damien looked between Simon —trapped between the wall and his body— and Raphael. Then he reluctantly pulled away and let Simon go. Damien spared them a final glance before leaving the room. Simon looked at Raphael straight into his eyes when the both of them were alone.

 

“I’m sorry” he began, not really sure of how he should continue. “I’m sorry” he repeated. “I didn’t want to betray you, I didn’t want to hurt you! I never meant for any of that to happen, I just…” Simon stared into the void at a loss of words. “Listen, Raphael, Jocelyn Fairchild is like a mother to me, the one that can actually know who I really am now that I’m… Now that I’ve turned. I had to help Clary bring her mother back, and the only way to do that was through Camille”

“You could have told me that instead of working behind my back” Raphael retorted.

“No! You wouldn’t listen. You think we didn’t try? The last thing we wanted was to betray your trust and break the alliance. I didn’t want to let you down, Raphael… But you didn’t leave us a choice. It was you or Jocelyn”

“ _Al menos ahora sé quién es más importante para ti_ ” Raphael huffed.

Simon didn’t understand Spanish very well, but he could clearly get the meaning of what the older vampire said. “Is this really about that? You think you’re not important to me?” he then asked, a mix of surprise and confusion in his voice.

“Does it matter what I think? You already made your decision, you chose the Shadowhunters”

“Then why making me come here? You wanted me to come and apologize? Well, it’s done!” he practically yelled. And then, in a lower voice he said: “But it’s also clear you won’t forgive me… What’s the real reason? Why did you ask me to come?”

Raphael sighed and averted his eyes. “Lily insisted… She wanted you to come home. She missed you… Or that’s what I think” then he looked up at Simon again.

Simon looked at his feet, hurt clear in his eyes. “ _She_ missed me?” he put more effort on the first word, as if trying to make Raphael confess something Simon himself wasn’t sure existed; and then he suddenly looked up at Raphael’s eyes again. “And why don’t you look at me while you speak?”

“Well… Maybe she wasn’t the only one who missed you…” Raphael muttered in a low voice. “I mean… You’re an annoying fledgling, but…” Raphael began unconsciously. But then he seemed to remember who he was talking to; he shook his head and looked straight into Simon’s eyes. “Okay then, you apologized. You are welcome back in the Hotel Dumort if you as much as desire it” Raphael left the room without looking back at the fledgling.

 

Simon tried to reach out for him, but he knew it would be useless: Raphael didn’t have anything else to say, he wouldn’t come back. And then he remembered what he had come to do as well.

 

“Raphael” he cried out. The older vampire turned around to look at him again. “Clary. She told me to ask you to come with me to the Institute for a meeting. Lily must come as well”

 

Raphael huffed in annoyance but he called for Lily nonetheless. Only two minutes later the three vampires were wandering around New York, heading to the Institute.

 

 

***

 

 

The meeting went better than expected. Clary was worried at first —there were so many Downworlders together in the same room, and no one knew what could happen (especially between vampires and werewolves)—, but everything went just fine.

 

After the meeting was over Alec was called to their father’s office, possibly to talk about a new mission or whatever Robert had decided was important. Isabelle and Meliorn left together, they went somewhere to talk, but no one was interested in knowing of her whereabouts. Clary and Simon left with Jocelyn and Luke; it seemed like the fledgling didn’t want to return to the Hotel Dumort just yet —or he was afraid of going back, who knows?—. Raphael and Lily left the Institute the moment Clary said the meeting was over. The only Downworld left at the Institute was Magnus.

 

After Alec left to talk with his father, Magnus wandered around the Institute, looking for the eldest Lightwood. He found her in the library, an old book in her hands. He slowly approached her and sat down beside her. Iris looked up at him and smiled softly, leaving the book aside.

 

“Thank you” she muttered suddenly. Magnus looked at her with a questioning eyebrow raised. “I mean it, Magnus. Thank you for everything” he seemed to understand then, as he wrapped his arms around her in a comforting way.

“You don’t need to thank me, you hear me? That’s what friends are for, in case you forgot”

“Thank you anyway” she repeated. “Thank you for everything you did today: helping me with Raphael, support us in the meeting, everything. I never truly thanked you for what you did for me three years ago, so if you’re not accepting my gratitude for that, at least accept it for what you did today”

“You truly are stubborn, aren’t you?” he laughed.

Iris laughed as well. “Yeah, well, I’m a Lightwood after all, that’s part of what we are”

“Not that I can deny it” Magnus said with a mischievous grin.

“Tell me something, Magnus… Did you ever think that we’ll meet again here in New York?”

“To be honest? No, I didn’t. After everything that happened in Madrid, and your refusal to lead the Institute… I truly believed I’d never hear of you again. I thought you’d stay in Idris, as far away from the battlefield as you could”

“But that doesn’t sound like me at all” she pouted, laughing at the end of her statement. “Though I have to admit I thought about it”

“No one could blame you for that, Iris. What happened was horrible, a tragedy. I can understand if you haven’t moved on yet”

“I still miss them, you know? But I love being a Shadowhunter, I just can’t stay away from the battlefield for too long”

“I know that you love your job, I’ve seen you fighting, remember?” Iris smiled and nodded, but then her face fell again.

“You’re not going to tell them, are you?” she looked up at him with hopeful eyes.

“To your siblings?” Iris nodded. “Not if you don’t want me to” she smiled gratefully. “Though they do deserve to know, you’re aware of that, right?”

She nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I know, and I will; just… not yet. I don’t think I’m ready to talk about it”

“I can tell. You’re tiptoeing around the subject even with me, and I know everything”

“I’ll be ready someday, sooner or later”

“For the sake of your relationship with Alec and Isabelle, I do hope it’s sooner” Iris smiled sadly at him and hugged him tightly.

“I know you don’t like me thanking you, but thanks”

Magnus held back a laugh “For what now?”

“For standing by my side and comforting me”

Magnus smiled and winked at her. “Anytime, sweetie”

 

Iris smiled through the tears —tears she didn’t even know when started dropping—, then she and Magnus stood up and left the room.

 

After they left, Isabelle came out from behind a bookshelf. She stared at the closing door for barely two seconds before leaving the library and heading to her own bedroom. She had a lot to talk to her sister about. But that would have to wait until the next day.

 

 

* * *

SPANISH TRANSLATIONS in order: (*I’m native Spanish speaker, but I’m not really good at translating literally into English and vice versa, so these are just possibilities; there could be more accurate translations*)

_Estoy malgastando mi tiempo contigo, así que date más prisa, niñita_  -> I'm wasting my time with you, so speak quickly, girl.

_¿Qué te parece eso?_  -> What do you think about that?

_Tentador… Realmente tentador_  -> Tempting... Really tempting.

_Tú no me conoces, no puedes juzgarme por lo que mis hermanos hicieron_  -> You don't know me, you can't judge me for what my siblings did.

_Un placer hacer negocios contigo, Raphael Santiago_  -> It’s been a pleasure talking business with you, Raphael Santiago.

_Lo mismo digo, Iris Lightwood_  -> I could say the same, Iris Lightwood.

_Me sorprende que no te escupiera en la cara al enterarse_  -> I’m surprised he didn’t spit in your face when he found out.

_Con eso es suficiente, Damien, gracias_  -> That would be enough, Damien, thank you.

_Al menos ahora sé quién es más importante para ti_  -> At least now I know who is more important to you.        


	3. Ghosts From The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec and Isabelle are worried about their sister. Alec goes to Magnus for help. Iris and Isabelle have a very much needed conversation between sisters.  
> ·  
> ·  
> ·  
> Basically, a bit of Iris' backstory here (this chapter is mostly about her). A bit of Malec fluff too. Also, someone new arrives. Any guesses?

_ Chapter 3: Ghosts From The Past _

 

"Iris" Isabelle barged in her sister's room early the next morning.

"Good morning, Isabelle" Iris greeted her with a smile. "Isn't it a bit early to be up already?"

"I could ask you the same thing" Isabelle retorted, to what Iris could do nothing but nod in agreement. "I wanted to talk to my sister. You know, I haven't seen you in so long and it seems like I've missed a lot"

"I can't see where you want to go with this conversation" Iris shrugged.

"I bet you know" Isabelle insisted. "What happened in Madrid, Iris? Why are you here instead of leading the Institute there?" Iris froze. How did Isabelle know? She wasn't ready to talk about what happened, she wasn't ready at all. "Iris? Will you talk to me, please?"

"Nothing" she answered. Isabelle spared her a questioning look. "Nothing happened in Madrid"

"I don't believe you" Isabelle stated. "You're very responsible, you'd never leave your Institute, not even for family issues"

"That's because I'm not the Head of the Madrid Institute anymore" Iris admitted. "I don't even live in Spain. I moved to Idris three years ago"

"You were ejected from your charge?" to say Isabelle was surprised to hear the news was an understatement. "I can't fathom why, you're so responsible when it comes to your job"

"I wasn't ejected... I quit" Iris dropped her eyes, staring into the nothingness. She didn't want anyone to know what happened; she wasn't even ready to let everyone know, she couldn't think of what happened without breaking down.

"You what?" Isabelle practically yelled. Iris rushed to her side and covered her sister's mouth with her hand.

"Shut up! It's not something I want everyone to know" Isabelle nodded and Iris dropped her hand to her side.

“Do mom and dad know about this?" Isabelle asked when her voice returned to her.

"No" Iris shook her head. "They think I left someone in charge when I came. Only the Inquisitor and Magnus know what happened"

"Magnus?" Isabelle asked in utter disbelief. "Why does Magnus know and we, your family, don't?"

"He was there when it all happened. He promised he wouldn't tell anyone"

"But he said you hadn't seen each other since you were chosen Head of the Institute; that was five years ago, how is it he was there three years ago?" Isabelle was clearly confused —and hurt, she was hurt, but she wasn't about to admit it—.

"He lied" she admitted. "I made him promise not to mention the... incident. Don't be mad at him, it was my fault"

"Tell me what happened" Isabelle pleaded. Iris immediately shook her head.

"No, I can't" she refused, shaking nervously. Nervous? She NEVER got nervous, Iris was always so sure of her actions. "I can't talk about that, not yet"

"It's been three years, Iris, move on" Iris breathed deeply a few times and looked at her sister right in the eye.

"If it had been you, you'd understand me. It's not something you want to talk about" she paused, took another deep breath and nodded hesitantly. "But I promise I will, when I'm ready to let you know"

Isabelle nodded as well and wrapped her arms tightly around her older sister. "You'll get over whatever happened, Iris. You're strong; I've seen you kill a horde of demons without blinking, this is nothing" her soothing words helped Iris relax a bit.

"Believe me, it's harder than you think" she smiled anyway before letting go of her sister. "Thank you, Iz"

 

Isabelle smiled widely and nodded before leaving the room. Iris stared at the retreating form of her younger sister for a long moment before falling into the bed. Letting go of the past wasn’t easy. At all.

 

 

***

 

 

Alec dropped his bow and quiver in the floor next to the front door. Then he heard a clatter in one of the rooms at the back.

 

“Magnus?” he yelled into the air, walking in the direction of the sound. “Are you there?”

“Alexander!” Magnus immediately opened the door to the room and went to greet him. “I didn’t know you were coming”

“Yeah, me neither. What were you doing there? I heard a clatter”

“Just… working on some potions, nothing too serious” he waved a dismissive hand towards the room at his back and led Alec towards the living room. “But do tell me, what brings you here?”

Alec huffed loudly as he collapsed on the couch. “I’ve been talking to Isabelle earlier” he started, looking down at his hands. “She said something about hearing a conversation you had with Iris last night, and then today she went to talk to our sister. Iris didn’t tell her much, but we’re worried about her, you know?”

“I can imagine, darling” Magnus smiled sadly at him.

“What’s going on, Magnus? What’s wrong with her?” he asked, finally looking up from his hands and directly into Magnus’ eyes.

“I can’t tell you, Alexander; it’s not my secret” Magnus sounded regretful.

“But we need to know! If she needs our help or comfort, we need to know”

“She’s fine. She’s handling it better than most, you don’t need to worry about her”

“Handling? Magnus, what happened? She is my sister, I have the right to know!”

“And she will tell you. Just give her some time… She needs time”

“How much time does she need? For what I know it’s already been three years, she could at least tell us. Or let you tell us”

“She wants to do it for herself!” Magnus practically yelled, then he paused to calm down a bit. “I’ll try to make her see that you need to know, but this is something she has to come to terms with before telling anyone, and that includes you, Isabelle, your parents…”

“Okay, I understand that… I’ve been in a similar situation, haven’t I?” Alec looked at Magnus with a soft smile playing on his lips.

“Sure you have” Magnus returned the smile and leaned forward to press a soft kiss to Alec’s lips. “You still owe me a date, you know? With everything that’s going on…”

“We could go out for dinner tonight, give my sisters some quality time alone”

“That sounds good” Magnus smiled for a second before quickly standing up. “Now, I’m sure you have work that needs to be done and I need to return to my potions, so… See you tonight at seven?”

“Tonight at seven, I’ll be here” Alec smiled softly before standing up as well. Magnus took him to the front door and waited as Alec picked up his bow and quiver. Then Alec leaned down and kissed Magnus for a brief second. “See you tonight” Alec whispered against Magnus’ lips.

“Sure” Magnus whispered in return as Alec left the loft. Magnus took a deep breath and then shook his head. “If Catarina and Ragnor could see me right now…” he muttered before going back to the room where his potions waited for him.

 

 

***

 

 

It was 8:30pm when Iris walked into the living room. Isabelle and Max were both there; Max was studying the runes and Isabelle was helping him.

 

“Where is Alec?” Iris asked her sister. Isabelle looked up at her and eyed Max. Iris huffed. “Max, honey, could you leave us alone?” Max pouted at them but left the room anyway.

“Alec is on a date with Magnus. He left like an hour and a half ago” Isabelle answered finally.

Iris sighed and sat down beside her sister. “Look, Isabelle… I talked to Magnus earlier, and I guess you’re all right, I do need to tell you what happened. I’m not sure I can say this twice —it’s going to be hard enough to tell you—, so you’ll probably have to tell Alec, or Magnus will” Isabelle nodded reluctantly.

“If you’re not ready… I can wait, Iris” Isabelle tried.

“No” Iris cut her off. “I’m not ready, but I’ve gathered the strength to tell you now, and if I don’t do it, I don’t know if I’d ever could”

“Okay…” Isabelle muttered and smiled softly at her sister.

“Listen carefully, please” Iris paused, took a deep breath and then started. “We can say it all started seven years ago. I told you I met Magnus in London ten years ago; that year, 2009, we were in Spain together, visiting some friends of his that were living there. Then I met her. She was a Shadowhunter, my age more or less. She lived in the Madrid Institute, and her parents were the Head of the Institute then. I didn’t have any Shadowhunter friends, so we get on well pretty quickly; we became Parabatai soon after that…”

“Wait” Isabelle interrupted her, “you have a Parabatai?”

“Please, let me finish” Iris said, tears forming in her eyes. Isabelle nodded, confused by her tears. “Like I said, we became Parabatai. We were really close, the best friends you could ever meet… Then her parents died, and the Clave had to choose the new Head of the Institute. They chose us, both of us. We were happy to run an Institute together, I mean, that’s every Shadowhunter’s dream, and we were responsible and determined, and the Clave liked that, so we ran the Institute together for two years.

“One day mom called me. Something about a mundane that had been kidnapped by vampires in Madrid or something like that. It was a trap. No mundane had been kidnapped” Iris paused and took a deep breath. “A lot of Shadowhunters under my command died that night… Including her” her voice broke at the end, tears now rolling down her cheeks freely. “Isabelle, you can’t even imagine how painful it is to lose your Parabatai; they tell us a million times in the Academy, but you can’t fathom how painful it really is, until you lose yours”

Isabelle swallowed hard. “It wasn’t your fault, you know that, right?”

“I know that, that’s not the problem. I was distracted, Isabelle, I wasn’t focused on my job like I always was. I could have saved them; maybe not all, but some of them could still live, including my Parabatai. I was supposed to fight by her side, to protect her from whatever attack, and I couldn’t…” Iris stopped to wipe the tears away. “Magnus was there, he came to help us, he saw everything, he saw how they killed her… It was Camille Belcourt who killed her” Iris stopped, unable to continue.

“I’m so sorry, Iris” Isabelle said, wrapping her arms tightly around her older sister. “But you can’t blame yourself for what happened”

“I don’t blame myself for anyone but her” Iris said, shrugging Isabelle’s arms off her. “She was more than a Parabatai to me, Isabelle, she was like family, she was like part of myself…” she breathed deeply. “Only Magnus knows this, and well the Inquisitor. I decided to quit then, not because I was feeling guilty, but because I needed to stay away from the battlefield, and everything in Madrid reminded me of her...

“And then Valentine returned. I knew some things about him, you know, mom and dad were part of the Circle, and I was almost four when the rise up happened, and growing up in Idris… Well, I learned some things. Plus, Magnus told me a lot of stories about him. When mom and dad told me what happened with Jace, I couldn’t stay away for much longer, I needed to come here and help my family”

“You shouldn’t have if you’re feeling bad. You know how fatal can a distraction be in our line of work”

Iris barked out a laugh. “Trust me, I know”

“What I mean is… You don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to, we can manage…”

“I want to be here, with my family and friends; I can’t hide in Idris forever”

“Okay… If you say so, I’ll believe you”

“I promise I’ll tell you whenever I feel bad or distracted, and I’ll back off from battle if I’m not focused”

“You don’t need to promise anything, I know you will” Isabelle said with a wide smile. Then she shook her head, smiled, and tried a change of topic. “So, what do you want to do now? Wanna visit New York? If I’m not mistaken this is your first time here, you should as well get to know the city…” a loud noise interrupted her: the alarm that warned them of the presence of an unwanted visitor.

 

Iris and Isabelle both jumped from the couch at the same time and rushed to the front door, holding high their Seraph blades. But no Downworlder or demon was there. Instead, a young, blonde woman was. Iris had never seen her in her life.

 

“Seems like you still don’t have enough people guarding the entrance to the Institute” the woman said. “But don’t worry, I killed the demon that was trying to break through the wards”

“Who are you?” Iris was fast to ask.

“She is Lydia Branwell” Isabelle said with a smirk. “I can’t believe you’re back!” she quickly approached the blonde girl and hugged her. “I thought you weren’t coming back in a long time”

“You insisted” the woman —Lydia— replied. “Alec told me a thousand times that I should come back, that you needed help…” Lydia stopped and eyed Iris. “Though it seems like you don’t anymore. Who is she?”

“She is Iris, our older sister” Isabelle said beaming at her.

“Wait” Iris interrupted. “Lydia Branwell, like in the Lydia Branwell that almost got married with our brother?”

“The one and only” Isabelle said smiling.

“Well, like she said, I’m Iris Lightwood” she offered her hand for Lydia to shake. Lydia looked at Isabelle for a moment before grabbing her hand and squeezing it.

“Nice to meet you, Iris” Lydia said.

“Nice to meet you as well” Iris replied. She could practically feel her sister’s gaze fixed on her, but she couldn’t care less about what Isabelle thought.

Isabelle coughed to capture their attention. “Lydia, you should go to your bedroom and leave your things there. Iris, come with me, I need to talk to you about… Something” the small smile on Isabelle's face didn't go unnoticed by Iris. What was on her sister's mind was beyond Iris' comprehension. She side-glanced at Isabelle before nodding and going back to the living room, where they were before Lydia’s arrival. When Isabelle entered the room as well, she closed the door behind her.

 

“You like Lydia” Isabelle said, accusingly.

“She seems nice…" Iris seemed to be choosing her words carefully. "And Alec was going to marry her, of course she is nice” she added quickly.

“You know what I mean, and it’s not that!” Isabelle retorted, her eyes wide open.

“I certainly don’t know what you mean; sorry, Isabelle” she tried to sneak out of the room, but Isabelle wasn’t about to let her go.

“You do” Isabelle insisted. “You like Lydia, in a romantic way” she added.

Iris snorted. “Yeah, sure, whatever you say. Now, if you let me, I need to go”

“Iris, I’ve seen how you looked at her… Magnus and Alec look at each other like that all the time. I’m not blind”

“I’d rather you were” Iris held back a laugh. Isabelle looked at her intently, trying to make her confess. Iris didn’t flinch. Not immediately at least. “Fine. I do like her, happy now?”

“More or less” Isabelle admitted. “Let me say, I think you’d make a great couple”

“Stop it, Iz! I’m sure Lydia is straight” Iris tried to cut her off.

“Lydia? Oh, my God! She is as straight as a Seraph blade… which is not at all!” Isabelle insisted.

Iris stared straight into her sister eyes, furrowed brow and mouth slightly open. “And how did you know I am into girls anyway?”

Isabelle shrugged. “I just knew” Iris raised a questioning eyebrow at her. “Fine… I found out by the way you talked about your Parabatai… You were lovers, weren’t you?”

Iris’ face contorted. “I don’t want to talk about that”

Isabelle's face fell at the sight of her sister's. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or anything”

“It’s not that, Isabelle… It just hurts, all the time” Iris sighed. “Now I really need to go. And I hope you’ll let me, since I told you what you wanted to know”

“Sure” said Isabelle, walking away from the door to let Iris get out.

 

Iris smiled softly at her sister before leaving the room. When she was locked in her room, she threw herself on the bed and closed her eyes, tears falling freely down her cheeks once again. Idly, she wondered if someday the pain would lessen… She certainly didn’t feel like it would anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O.o  
> What did you think of Iris' past? Did it surprise you? Do you like where this is going?  
> I know we don't have a lot of plot development in this chapter, but this was needed (in my opinion). In the next chapter the plot starts developing, so get ready for a bit (or a lot) of angst.  
> Leave me your thoughts on the chapter in the comments, pls!! ♥♥
> 
> Love u! xox
> 
> P.S.: I know it may seem a bit soon to introduce the whole Iris-Lydia relationship, but right now is just one-sided (Iris feels attracked to Lydia, that bit is obvious), and a lot of things will happen in between this and their first real interaction (in a romantic way).
> 
> P.S.2: Izzy's comment about the Seraph blades not being straight is bcs they look a bit curvy in the show; to me at least.


	4. Opening Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris and Simon bonding (weird enough?). Simon and Raphael open up about their feelings (Raph is in denial, poor him). Iris and Magnus are there for them.  
> Also, introducing the plot for the next chapters ;)  
> ·  
> ·  
> ·  
> This is more like a filler chapter before we get a bit of action and angst (yes, get ready for the next three chapters or so, a lot of angst and cliffhangers coming your way, sorry in advance?)

_ Chapter 4: Opening Up _

 

The next morning, Simon woke up in a couch in the living room of the Institute. Clary had dragged him along the previous night when Isabelle told her Lydia was back.

 

Simon reluctantly got up from the couch and slowly walked down the hallway to the entrance of the Institute. It was early in the morning, so only a few Shadowhunters were around, none of them familiar to Simon, so he just sat down in the stairs waiting for Clary —or at least a familiar face to talk to.

 

"What are you doing here so soon?" a feminine voice woke him up from his still half-asleep state. He looked up and saw the dark-haired girl he met the previous day —Iris? He couldn't say he had paid attention to her name.

"Isabelle called Clary last night after Lydia's return; she insisted until we came. The girl can be persistent" Simon answered, earning a smile from the eldest Lightwood.

"And that means you're trapped here until sunset?" the girl sat down next to him. Then he took a real look at her for the first time. She did look an awful lot like Alec and Isabelle, no one could deny they were siblings.

"Not necessarily" he said, replying to her question. "I can leave in the van, hiding from the sun. Or Magnus could open a portal"

The girl look up at the ceiling, as if it hadn't occurred to her that Magnus happened to be around a lot. "I hadn't thought of that" she finally said.

 

The doors to the Institute opened and Alec came into sight. He was wearing the same clothes he used for his date with Magnus.

 

"Did you spend the night at Magnus'?" Iris smiled up at her brother.

"Is that a problem?" Alec asked as he approached them.

"No, not at all" Iris replied without considering it even for a minute. "Iz needs to talk to you about something important" her gesture turned into one of seriousness instantly, and the face her brother showed matched hers. Then she smiled widely again. "And your ex-fiancée is back from Idris. She is in the training room with the girls"

"Is that why the vampire is here?" Alec asked, indifference clear in his voice.

"Yes, that's why Simon is here" she replied to her brother. Was it Simon's imagination or she was trying to defend him? "Where is Magnus anyway? I was almost sure he'd come back with you"

"He received a call from Lily Chen; apparently Raphael isn't very well" Simon flinched visibly at this statement from her brother.

"Is he OK?" Iris asked, noticing that Simon was still a bit affected by the news.

"Yes. Magnus went only to make sure it wasn't serious. He said, and I quote, ‘ _Lily tends to be a bit overdramatic_ ’"

"Well, I really hope he is fine" Iris said. She vaguely noted Simon relaxing next to her.

"Yeah..." Alec sighed. "I'm going to greet Lydia. Did you meet her?"

Iris nodded. "Yes. Last night. She seems nice"

"She is, right? Not everyone would have reacted so nicely after being left at the altar" Iris stiffed a laugh.

"Sure, because in the Shadow World it's so common that the groom stops his wedding and kisses another man" she said sarcastically.

 

Alec just huffed and left the room without saying another word.

 

"Are you OK?" Iris asked Simon once Alec was out of earshot.

Simon shook his head and waved a hand, shrugging her off. "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing, just... You seemed affected by what Alec said... about Raphael"

"What? No!" Simon barked out a laugh. "No, it's just... I don't know, I can't help but feel guilty. I... I betrayed them, I betrayed my family and chose the Shadowhunters over them"

"I can't blame you, Simon" she smiled when she saw his confused expression. "But I can't say I approve of what you did either" she shook her head and took a deep breath. "We all make mistakes, but we have to learn to live with them. It's not something you can escape, but if you don't face it, it will hunt you forever. Quite literally in your case" Simon almost laughed at that.

“Why do you want to talk about this anyway?” Simon asked, confused.

Iris shrugged. “I don’t know… I guess I just want to talk, about anything really”

“But why with me? You don’t even know me”

She shrugged again. “You’re important to Clary, and somehow also to my sister. I don’t see a problem in getting to know each other, Simon”

He smiled slightly at this. “You know? Clary, Isabelle and you are the only ones who actually call me by my name. For the rest it was mundane, and now vampire or fledgling… And Magnus always gets it wrong… Which I’m starting to think it’s on purpose”

Iris smiled amused. “Yeah, knowing Magnus that’s probably true” Iris looked down at the floor and smiled slightly. “So, what happens with Raphael?”

“Whatever do you mean?” Simon asked, a mix of confusion, fear and concern on his face.

“I’m not an idiot, Simon, neither I'm blind. Do you think I didn’t notice your reaction when my brother mentioned that Raphael wasn’t well?”

“Well, I was kinda hoping you didn’t”

“In case you’re worried, I’m almost positive my brother didn’t. I’m just a bit perceptive” Iris smiled widely at him and put her hand on his knee. “So, tell me, I don’t bite. And I might be able to help you”

Simon sighed in defeat. “Has it ever happened to you that you get confused because of what you feel?” Iris seemed to consider her answer before nodding hesitantly. “Clary and I grew up together. For years I thought I was in love with her… No, that’s a lie actually, I was sure I was in love with her. Now I don’t even know who I am anymore”

“Can I ask when it started? I mean, when you started to feel confused?”

“I’m not exactly sure…” he confessed. “In part I think it was when I first met your siblings, meaning Isabelle. She’s stunning”

Iris laughed. “I bet she is. Please, go on”

“Then there’s this part of me that believes it all started after I turned into… this, when I moved to the Hotel Dumort for the first time. Being there, being with Raphael… It felt different. It felt good. And then Clary invited me to Alec’s wedding. I didn’t know he was gay; hell, I haven’t even talked with him that much. But when he kissed Magnus in front of everyone, I just… felt something; like maybe if a man about to get married could hop off the altar and kiss another man in front of everyone… I don’t know, maybe I could do the same… I mean, kiss another man, and actually like it”

“You’re confused about your sexuality” Iris concluded.

“I don’t know. Maybe” Simon shook his head.

“Simon, that’s not a problem. You just have to come to terms with it. Take a moment to actually think about it. You have dated girls before, right? And even if not, you’ve felt attracted to them” Simon nodded. “Let’s then cross ‘gay’ off the list” she said with a chuckle. “Have you ever kissed a man?” Simon shook his head. “And have you wanted to?” Simon seemed to consider this for a moment. “If you have to think about it, then the answer is probably yes. How do you feel about Raphael?”

“I don’t want to talk about Raphael” he shook his head nervously.

“Why?” she asked, confused.

“I don’t know, it just… It’s hard”

“Why don’t you go back to the Hotel Dumort? Maybe that will help. Maybe being around him might help you come to terms with what you feel”

“Or maybe that will only hurt me more. At first I wasn’t sure if he felt something for me… Now I’m almost sure he hates me”

“Almost” she repeated. “That doesn’t sound like a certainty to me. Have you tried asking him?”

Simon snorted. “Sure” he said sarcastically. “What could I say, though? Sometimes I don’t even know what to say when I’m in front of him. Should I just barge into his room and ask him: ‘ _Hey, Raphael, sorry for barging in here, but I just wanted to know, do you hate me?_ ’”

“Well, if you do that, he’d probably chop your head off, but you could be more subtle” Iris offered. “I don’t know, move in there again, try to at least rebuild your relationship with the clan, and when you win their trust again, you could try to learn if he hates you or not by asking them. I’ve noticed he is pretty close to this Lily person”

“He is” Simon conceded. “Actually your idea is not that bad, I could try that. Thank you, Iris”

Iris smiled widely at him. “You’re welcome”

“Now, why don’t you tell me more about you? It’s not like your siblings have told me a lot. I mean, I didn’t even know you existed”

Iris let out a laugh. Simon didn’t know why, but he could tell a sadden tone to it. “I was four years old, give or take, when Valentine tried to steal the Mortal Cup for the first time. When the Circle dissolved, or apparently dissolved, my parents were sent into exile. They made a deal, to raise their children in peace, away from Idris, so they got to run the New York Institute and make like nothing had ever happened. But my mom couldn’t be happy with just that…”

“That would have been enough for me” Simon interrupted.

“That would have been enough for everyone… But her, obviously” she sighed. “Anyway, she convinced the Clave to let me stay at Idris and train there. I still don’t know why, but they obliged. I was raised by Patrick and Jia Penhallow, old friends of my parents. As you can imagine, living and training in Idris is quite different from training here. Anyway, when I turned 13 I had already grown tired of being in Idris. Yes, Idris is beautiful, the most beautiful place on Earth… But I wanted to travel the world, gain more experience on the battlefield, and I did just that.

“My first destination was London, I met Magnus there. As you may imagine, he was as flamboyant as he is right now, it was impossible not to be drawn to him. He wasn’t very fond of Shadowhunters, and least of all, the Lightwoods. But I won his trust, and he showed me the world. He took me travelling all around the world, and it was amazing; and I actually got to gain more experience at shadowhunting. Three years later we were on Madrid, visiting some friends of his. I never had a lot of Shadowhunter friends, so when I met the daughter of the current Head of the Madrid Institute we became friends immediately.

“Magnus left the city a few months later. I stayed. For the first time in forever I felt like I belonged somewhere. Then her parents died, and we both were chosen Head of the Institute. We ran it together for five years, and now that I’m needed here she stayed there on her own. She’s making me a favor, and I very much appreciate it” she hadn’t thought even for a second about telling Simon the truth. What was the point anyway? She didn’t want pity from anyone, least of all the recently turned vampire. It was hard enough opening up to her sister, and she knew her way better than Simon.

“And your relationship with your family? You seem very close to your siblings”

“Good point” she smiled. “Most of the times I only met my parents and Max, but sometimes I had meetings with Alec and Isabelle too… Not as often as I’d like, but we always kept in touch: fire messages while being on Idris, phone calls… Even letters sometimes. It was good to have them, though; even when we were not physically together, only being able to talk to them was nice”

“It must have been hard, being apart from them”

“It was how things were, we couldn’t exactly fight against our parents. We missed each other, of course, but what else could we do? Even distance can’t tear us apart. We’re Lightwoods, we always find a way to each other”

 

Simon was about to say something else when the doors to the training room blew open. Alec, Isabelle, Clary and Lydia rushed out of there, each with their weapon of choice in hand.

 

“What happened? What’s wrong?” Iris was quickly on her feet, grabbing the Seraph blade Alec threw at her.

“Go call Magnus and the vampires. We have a lead to where Valentine is hiding” Clary explained on their way out of the Institute.

“What?” Iris ran after them, sparing Simon a final glance before closing the door behind her.

“What you heard. Isabelle and Alec are going to contact the Seelies, I’ll call Luke and my mom. Iris, could you take Lydia to the Hotel Dumort and bring the vampires as well?” Clary, as always, was the one giving away the orders. Iris was starting to think she acted more like the Head of the Institute than Alec himself.

“Okay, no problem at all” Iris nodded and looked at Lydia, nodding in the direction of the Hotel Dumort. “Where will we meet after?”

“Jade Wolf. Lydia knows how to get there” Alec informed. Iris looked at the blonde woman again, who nodded in agreement.

“Okay then, let’s go”

 

 

***

 

 

Magnus entered the Hotel Dumort and was greeted by a slightly concerned Lily. He really did hope the reason why she called him was in fact important —he wasn’t exactly happy that she had interrupted his lovely morning with Alexander.

 

“What seems to be the problem, dear?” Magnus asked, always his charming self.

“The fledgling came yesterday, right before the meeting at the Institute. He wasn’t here long, but he must have said something… Raphael has been acting weird ever since we left the Institute yesterday. I’m worried about him” Lily explained, as concisely has she could.

Magnus rolled his eyes. “Raphael is always acting weird, he’s a weird specimen” he sighed. “Where is he?”

“His bedroom. He wouldn’t let anyone in, though, so you might as well portal inside and force him to listen to you”

“Thanks for the advice, but he’d probably kill me if I did” he sighed in defeat and hurried to Raphael’s door. “Raph” he called out. “Raphael, open, please. It’s Magnus, I need to talk to you about… something” he tried. Raphael didn’t answer. Five whole minutes passed before the door opened.

“Are you alone?” he questioned.

“Lily is out here, but she won’t come inside if you don’t want her to”

“Come in” he stepped aside to let Magnus in.

Magnus looked at him with examining eyes. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked suddenly.

“Whatever do you mean, Bane?” Raphael was being sarcastic, and Magnus noticed it right away.

“You know I’m not stupid, right? I’m probably the person who knows you better around here, you can fool everyone but me” he took a deep breath. “So, what’s going on between you and Sheldon?”

Raphael looked at him in confusion. “Who?”

“Stuart?” Magnus tried again.

Then it hit him. Hard. “You mean the fledgling?” he finally asked, aching in pain only with the thought of him.

“Yes, him!” Magnus seemed pleased that he had gotten Raphael to recognize who was he talking about. “So? What’s going on between you two?”

“Nothing” he answered quickly. Magnus looked intently at him, eyebrow raised. “What? It’s the truth, nothing’s going on between us”

“Okay then” Magnus sighed in defeat. “But what will happen with him now? You know, when he comes back to live at the Hotel Dumort?”

“Nothing” Raphael insisted. “I told you, nothing has ever happened between us”

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” Magnus asked, curiosity taking the best out of him.

Raphael looked at him, definitely pissed at him. “Look, Magnus, he’s dead to me now. He doesn’t mean anything, as well as I never meant anything to him”

“Oh, dealing with the heartbreak, are we?” Magnus tried to joke —which wasn’t a good idea at all, because if looks could kill, he’d be dead right now—. “Okay, okay, I get it, we’re not in the mood for jokes, duly noted”

 

Raphael opened his mouth as to complain about what Magnus had said. Then Lily's voice reached their ears. She sounded upset and exasperated.

 

"Stop right there! You can't go in that room, you don't have permission"

"Look, girl" a voice that Magnus recognized as Iris' don't-you-dare-interfere-with-my-missions voice said, "when I came here yesterday I behaved for the sake of our deal. Now I'm here on a mission, and no one on Earth can stop me when I'm on a mission"

Magnus realized she'd probably knock down the door, so he snapped his fingers and the door blew open. "What seems to be the problem?"

Iris quickly looked up at him when the door opened. "Good, you're here, as I expected" was the first thing to come out of her lips. "We have a lead to where Valentine is hiding. My siblings and Clary are on their way to the Jade Wolf, but we need the vampires too, and you, Magnus"

Magnus sighed. Of course he wouldn't have a single day off. "Okay then, let's go to the Jade Wolf" he snapped his fingers and waved his hand, blue sparks flying around them before a purple portal opened in front of them.

"Lily, give the order to the rest of the clan" Raphael directed the other vampire.

"Where's Simon?" Magnus asked, trying not to look at the vampire next to him.

"Institute. Don't know if he'll come, though" Iris quickly explained.

"They're coming" Lily said as she re-entered the room.

 

Magnus nodded and gestured for them to go through the portal. Lily went first. Lydia, who Magnus had barely noticed was there —he'd have to greet her later—, walked through right after. Other vampires walked behind her, followed by Iris. Magnus looked at Raphael expectantly. The vampire snorted and walked through before Magnus, who closed the portal behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know, I know, it was a filler, and it didn't add a lot of information, but I think this will help for future conversations. Also, more Malec to come in the next chapters, especially chapters 6 and 7, with a bit of angst (sorry, this is my warning, don't say you weren't warned)
> 
> I did want Simon to have a conversation of this kind with someone, and Iris seemed like the best option so you could get to know a bit more about her as well.
> 
> The conversation between Raphael and Magnus came up while I was talking to a friend (she asked me for a sentence to put in an edit with Raphael and Magnus, and this just popped into my head). We actually have the edit, with Raphael's line "He's dead to me now", and it pains me every time I see it.
> 
> Next chapter should be up by next Friday, though maybe earlier, I'm not sure yet.  
> Leave me your thoughts on the chapter in the comments, pls!! <3
> 
> Love u! xox  
> -C ♥


	5. A Short Trip to Hell (I)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clary has a plan to rescue Jace. They go separeted ways to find him. Lydia and Iris have a little conversation. There's an awful battle.  
> ·  
> ·  
> ·  
> Here is where the angst begins. This 'Short Trip to Hell' will take at least 2 more chapters. Sorry for that. Also, sorry for the cliffhanger.

_ Chapter 5: A Short Trip to Hell (I) _

 

"So" Magnus started once they all were gathered in the Jade Wolf, "where exactly are we heading to?"

"A ship" Clary answered.

"A ship?" Magnus questioned in disbelief.

"How did you find out about this?" Iris asked then. Isabelle, Lydia, Clary and Alec looked at each other, guilt gleaming in their eyes. "Answer the question, now" Iris ordered.

"We tracked Jace through our Parabatai bond" Alec answered, not daring to look at Iris or Magnus in the eye.

Iris stared at him, wide-eyed. "You did what?" Magnus and she asked in utter disbelief. Then Magnus continued, "we've talked about this a million times, Alexander, you agreed not to insist" he sounded angry, but mostly disappointed.

"That would have been my fault" Lydia interfered. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have insisted. But it worked, and nothing bad happened"

 

Iris huffed in annoyance. She had liked Lydia right away; now she wasn't sure anymore. How did she dare to even suggest something like that?!

 

"We can discuss this later. Jace must know we've tracked him; if we don't move now and Valentine finds out, all this would have been for nothing, so please?" Alec tried.

Iris and Magnus looked at each other, but in the end they nodded. "Okay, but what do we do with the vampires? It's the middle of the morning, it's not like they can step out of here without burning in the sun"

"We have Simon's van. They can go in there, that's how he moves around during daytime" it was Clary who answered.

Iris could swear she heard Raphael snort, and by the look on Magnus' face he had heard it too. "Okay then, let's get going. We'll follow your lead" she addressed Clary, who smiled and nodded gratefully before walking to the door and out of the restaurant, quickly followed by Isabelle and Lydia.

 

 

***

 

 

They reached the harbor a while later. As Clary had said, there was a huge ship not so far from them.

 

"Can you portal us inside, Magnus?" Lydia asked.

"No, I can only portal you to places I've been at least once. Also, I'm sure Valentine has strong wards protecting the entrances to the ship"

"What are we gonna do now, then?" Isabelle asked, frustrated.

"You could as well have thought about that before bringing us here" Iris huffed in annoyance. "I'd suggest swimming, but we'd be way too exerted to fight Valentine in that case"

"I can enchant the van to act like a boat and float. We can use it as transport to get to the ship. Once we're there we can figure how to get inside" Magnus suggested.

Apparently, everyone thought it was a good idea. They all gathered in the back of the van —okay, maybe they hadn't thought that through, there were way too many people in the van—, but besides that the plan worked just fine. The next problem was getting inside the ship.

 

"Okay, so the plan for when we're inside is this" Clary started. "Magnus and Alec will take prow to look for Jace, while Lydia and Iris will go stern; Isabelle and I will go for Valentine. The rest of you will fight whatever might come in our way. There must be at least fifty or sixty Shadowhunters in there, and we don't know if there'll be demons as well"

 

No one said a word, silently agreeing with the plan. They decided not to get too close to the ship, just in case someone noticed them approaching. About 36 feet away from their destination, Clary pulled over and took a deep breath.

 

"And now what?" Raphael asked.

"We swim" Iris said. "It's not a big distance, it's easy to swim until there"

"The vampires can't get out of the van, it's still daytime" Jocelyn pointed out.

"Well, we can't exactly wait until sunset; they'll notice us here sooner or later" Clary retorted.

"Rather sooner than later" Isabelle corrected.

"Magnus, can you play with the weather?" Iris suggested. Everyone turned to look at her. "What? If it's cloudy enough the sun won't get to them. And it will also fool the people on the ship" everyone had to admit it was a good idea. "So? Can you, Magnus?"

"I can try at least" he offered. Iris nodded and gestured towards the window. Magnus struggled to get to the window and looked outside. He breathed deeply and held out both his hands, snapping his fingers and sending blue sparks into the sky. A few seconds passed before the sky was covered in grey clouds; even a few thunders sounded in the distance.

"That is awesome" Isabelle said in awe.

"You bet it is" Alec said, looking down at his boyfriend, a small smile playing on his lips, his eyes shimmering with pride.

"We better get going now" Clary said, quickly launching herself into the water. She was close followed by Lydia and Isabelle. The rest of them went right after.

 

As Iris had predicted, the swim to the ship was short. They managed to sneak into the ship without being noticed. So far, so good. Once they were on board, they parted different ways, following Clary's instructions. Iris couldn't say she wasn't grateful to have a few minutes to get to know Lydia a little better, but that only made her suspicious: what if Isabelle had told Clary that she fancied her brother's ex-fiancée? Would Izzy tell Alec and Simon as well? No, she was a good sister, she'd respect her —though, for the looks of it, she had at least told Clary (not that Iris minded that much, not as long as she didn't tell anyone else).

 

Lydia and Iris made their way through a dark corridor. An awkward silence had fallen over them since they were left alone.

 

"So" Iris said then, "how did you meet my family?"

"The Clave sent me to take over the Institute when your parents' work was considered not good enough, that's how I arrived here and met them"

"And how did you come to be my brother's fiancée?" Iris almost laughed at the face Lydia made. "I mean" she added, trying to light a bit the mood around them, "it's not that you're not pretty or anything, that you are, but my brother is pretty much gay, as you may know already" Lydia giggled at this. "So? How is it that you two almost got married?"

Lydia sighed. "Your brother found out that the Clave will pass the control of the Institute over to me. He was worried for the future of your family, for the family honor, and he didn't want to lose the Institute. He proposed to me so we both could keep it and get to run it. He knew my dream was to run an Institute"

"Okay, there's something I don't get... My sister showed me the wedding clip —you know, the one mundanes usually record, though I don't know why they did one—, and you seemed good with the idea of my brother leaving you at the altar... You gave up your dream, why?"

Lydia shrugged. "I already knew of his feelings towards Magnus —it was a bit obvious, I daresay—, and I also knew he could never be happy with me. I'm not as selfish as to keep him from being happy just to make my dream a reality. I'm young, I have plenty of time to run an Institute"

"That's so nice and considerate from you" Iris smiled. Then they heard a clatter somewhere near them. "What was that?" she raised her Seraph blade and turned into the direction of the sound. There was a closed door there.

"Let's find out" Lydia raised her left hand, tightening her grip on her Seraph blade, and grabbed the doorknob. She took a deep breath before turning it and opening the door. The room was apparently empty.

"This is... strange" Iris said, turning around to check everything. No one around. "This has to be a trap" Iris turned around to look at Lydia. "Let's get out of here, now" Lydia nodded and rushed to the door.

But then someone slammed the door shut. Iris turned around, but still no one was there. "Crap" Lydia muttered.

Iris rushed to the door and tried opening it. "It's closed" she said, turning the doorknob over and over again.

"Try with a rune" Lydia suggested. Iris nodded in agreement and reached for her stele. She tried to draw the Open Rune at least three times. It didn't work.

"It's not working!" Iris cried in exasperation. "They surely used a very powerful rune or even a spell"

"Try knocking it down"

"No way it will work. It opens to the inside. We need someone to open it from the outside" she reached for her phone and dialed Alec's number. He answered after two rings. "Alec! Lydia and I are trapped in a room near the end of the ship" she paused, waiting for an answer from Alec's side. "Please, hurry!" Then she hung up. "Alec and Magnus are coming" she announced.

"That's good" Lydia said, pacing around the room.

Iris leaned against the door. "I hope they're fast" Lydia said nothing, but she nodded in agreement. Then Iris heard the sound of footsteps outside the room. "Someone's out there. And it is too soon for it to be Alec” Iris straighten and tried to listen.

"Ask for help!" Lydia urged her.

"What if it's one of Valentine's men?"

"Then we kill him" Lydia suggested. Iris tilted her head, silently agreeing with her. But then the steps stopped.

"Who is in there?" a masculine voice asked from the outside. Iris barely recognized it, but she knew who that person was.

"Jace!" she shouted. "Jace, it's me, Iris! Open the door, please"

"Iris?" he asked again. "Iris as in Iris Lightwood?"

"Do you happen to know anyone else named Iris?" she asked, exasperated. "Lydia is here with me too. We tried using a rune, but it was useless. Can you knock the door down?"

"Get away from the door" he ordered. Iris instantly walked away, making Lydia get away as well. The door cracked open and Jace rushed into the room. "Are you okay? What are you doing here?"

"We came here to rescue you, you dumbass!" Iris yelled. "Let's find the others"

"The others? How many people have come, Iris?"

"All of us. Alec, Isabelle, Clary, Magnus... Even the vampires, werewolves and Seelies are here" Iris informed, stepping out of the room, Lydia and Jace hot on her heels. "Magnus and Alec are on their way, we should wait for them"

"If we go that way, we'll find them sooner or later" Lydia suggested. Iris nodded in agreement and started in that direction.

"Iris! Lydia!" she heard her brother and Magnus yell.

"We're over here!" she yelled in return. The boys appeared around the corner. Alec wrapped his arms protectively around her sister as soon as he saw her.

"Are you okay? How did you get out of the room?" he questioned them frantically, concern still clear in his voice.

"Jace found us" she look behind her back, at her almost brother, and then she looked again at Alec. Alec reluctantly pulled away from her and approached his Parabatai. Iris quickly wrapped her arms around Magnus in a comforting hug.

"Jace..." he murmured. “Are you okay?"

Jace huffed and hugged Alec, patting his back. "I'm perfectly fine. Now, let's find the others before Valentine does"

"They ought to be on deck. Though Clary and Isabelle were looking for Valentine" Magnus informed.

"We better hurry then, we don't want them to get hurt, do we?" Jace said. Everyone shook their heads and headed towards the deck. At least one part of their mission was accomplished.

 

When they arrived on deck, there were at least fifty Shadowhunters fighting with the vampires and werewolves. Where the Seelies had run off to, Iris had no idea.

 

"Holy crap" Alec muttered.

"Do you happen to have an extra blade?" Jace asked. Iris smiled and grabbed a second Seraph blade that no one knew where it had come from.

"All yours, brother" Iris handed him the blade.

"Thank you" he murmured, impressed.

 

And then they were all fighting as well. There were too many Circle members, Iris couldn’t even imagine how much time Valentine had dedicated to create new Shadowhunters. At least there weren’t any demons in sight, and that was something to be grateful for. Between vampires, werewolves and Shadowhunters, they outnumbered Valentine’s men, but even so the fight was tough, and not very pretty.

 

"Have you seen Isabelle?" Alec yelled.

Iris pulled her blade out of the Circle member she'd just killed and looked around. She shook her head. "No, Clary and she are not here, neither are the Seelies. They must be looking for Valentine or something"

"I don't like that idea" Alec muttered, fighting yet another Circle member.

"Me neither" she answered, chopping the head off of another Circle member.

 

They were a big, well-trained team, and they were managing to narrow down the number of rough Shadowhunters they were facing quite fast. Even so, the fight wasn’t an easy one, and they were barely winning.

 

And then a loud, pained scream sounded in the distance...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, hey  
> I wanted to update yesterday, but my laptop died (quite literally), and I couldn't use it for at least 6 hours, and then my parents insisted in going out for dinner, and I ended up arriving home at 2am and was too exhausted to update then.
> 
> This chapter introduces the plot for the upcoming chapters, the next at least 2 chapters have this plotline of the ship/consequences of what happens in the ship.  
> Again, sorry for the cliffhanger, I will try and update sooner than Friday because this chapter is also shorter than the others, so maybe I'll be nice and update on Tuesday/Wednesday instead.
> 
> What did you think of this chapter? Personally, I don't like it a lot, maybe because I have the feeling everything happens so fast, but Idk, in the end I'm glad I did it this way because the next chapters are angsty as hell and I wouldn't want to leave you on cliffhanger for more than three chapters, xD
> 
> Anyway, I hope you liked it!!  
> Lots of love <3  
> -C ♥


	6. A Short Trip to Hell (II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our Shadowhunters discover who that scream was from and what was it for. Valentine has a trick or two up his sleeve. A few people got injured; badly. An old friend comes to the rescue. People are worried, like really worried.  
> ·  
> ·  
> ·  
> Don't hate me too much for this cliffhanger bcs it's worse than the previous one. I'm sorry. Really sorry. But this is only the beginning. (Don't worry, next chapter will fix this mess).

_ Chapter 6: A Short Trip to Hell (II) _

 

The scream reverberated through the air for a moment. It didn’t last long, but enough to capture everyone’s attention.

 

“That was Clary!” Jace screamed. “I’m going to find her” Jace killed another Circle member before going straight in the direction where the scream came from.

“He shouldn’t go alone!” Lydia yelled, not looking away from the enemy she was fighting for even a second.

“If someone else leaves we’ll lose the battle. We can’t leave the vampires and werewolves alone” Iris yelled back.

“Where the hell are the Seelies, anyway?” Alec asked then. The number of Circle members had decreased considerably, but a lot of them were still standing. “If they were here, fighting, we three could go with Jace”

 

Not even a second later, a handful of Seelies landed on board. There were twenty or thirty, a lot more than the last time Iris checked, when they were in the floating van. A Seelie man with long, blue hair approached them. Iris recognized him as Meliorn, the Seelie her sister had introduced to her during the meeting a few days prior.

 

“Sorry for being late, we were calling for back up” the man informed her. Iris smiled, grateful for the Seelies’ consideration. She looked up at her brother and nodded in the same direction Jace had left a few minutes ago. Lydia followed them immediately, but Magnus stayed on deck, fighting alongside the Downworlders.

 

It didn’t take long for them to reach Jace in their way to wherever Clary and Isabelle were. Jace led them to a big, dark corridor, and a few minutes later they were standing in front of a large, wooden door. It looked like it was firmly closed, but maybe that was only her perception. Their weapons ready, Jace reached out to open the door…

 

Clary was kneeling on the floor, holding something —or better someone— dearly close to her chest. And she was crying. It took them all at least one full minute to realize it was Simon. But how? He was in the Institute when they left earlier… But of course, there wasn’t anyone left in the Institute, for some reason or another everyone had left —most of them were on the ship right now—, it had been easy for Valentine to get to him.

 

Iris then realized that her sister was kneeling on the floor beside Simon’s body as well, a few tears streaming down her face. Wow, it had been a while since she had seen her sister crying, the vampire might be really important to her.

 

“How could you?” Jace yelled angrily at Valentine, who was still holding a bloody Seraph blade in his hand. “You promised not to hurt them if I left with you”

“It’s not my fault if they decided to sneak into the ship. This is their fault” Valentine retorted.

“Well played, Valentine” Iris said then, looking for the first time straight into Valentine’s dark eyes. “But Simon was at the Institute; that means he didn’t come here, and he had no way to come, since we took his van and it was daytime. You had to go for him, so technically, you did break your promise”

“Who are you, if I may ask?” Valentine turned to look at her. His expression turned from one of calm to surprise and, finally, anger. “I should have guessed something like this would happen, Lightwoods tend to come to the rescue of their loved ones. So, should I welcome you, Iris? Welcome you to the battlefield after what happened in Madrid?”

“How do you…?” she asked furiously, tightening her grip on the Seraph blade.

“I know everything” Valentine said, an amused smile on his lips. “Tell me, how would you parents react if they found out what their beloved daughter did?”

“Shut up!” Iris yelled, sprinting the room towards Valentine, aiming at him with her Seraph blade.

 

Jace, taking advantage of the situation, ran to Clary and Isabelle to help them get out of the room. When she realized what he was trying to do, Lydia rushed to his side, helping Clary and Isabelle up. Jace smiled up at her and mouthed a ‘ _Thank you_ ’ before catching Simon up in his arms.

 

“Iris” Alec whispered. “Let’s go help the others”

“Don’t you realize he will kill us all if we let him live?” Iris spat, sounding angry and on the verge of tears.

“Listen to your brother, Lightwood. You know as well as I do that you can’t kill me”

“You wanna bet?” Iris asked even angrier than before, her Seraph blade almost cutting Valentine’s throat, blood almost spilling from the cut she intended to make.

 

And suddenly, as if he had evaporated into thin air, Valentine disappeared of plain sight.

 

“What the actual f*ck?” Iris asked, lowering her Seraph blade and looking all around the room.

“It wasn’t real, it was a projection or something” Alec assured her, wrapping her in his arms.

“Then how did he hurt Simon?” Iris asked, a mix of confusion and disbelief in her voice.

“I have no idea” Alec answered truthfully. “Let’s go, we have to get to the others and go back to the Institute immediately” Iris just nodded and let her brother take her out of there. At least they had Jace and they were alive. They just had to find a way to heal Simon wounds before he died… “Magnus!” Alec screamed when they reached the deck. He quickly disentangled himself from her sister and ran to the place where Magnus was lying on the ground.

 

The battle had obviously ended, there weren’t any Circle members in sight —at least none of them were alive—. Iris sprinted towards her friend as well and kneeled by his side. He looked really bad.

 

“Magnus, what happened?” Iris asked, since Alec was very obviously in shock.

“I don’t know…” he struggled to say. “I was fighting and then… It came out of nowhere, I don’t even know who he or she was” Magnus coughed weakly. “Iris, you know who you need to call for help, right?” Iris quickly nodded, reaching out for her phone.

“We should take him and Simon home” Isabelle said to her sister, seemingly better after her breakdown for Simon getting injured.

Iris nodded. “Get everyone in the van. When I’m done with this call, we’ll leave” Isabelle nodded and quickly started sending everyone to the van.

 

There were a lot more people than before. Fortunately, the Seelies had found another way to come and go, so they weren’t going to get back in the van. Either way, they helped them get Magnus and Simon to the van before leaving. The vampires and the werewolves managed to get in the van as well, the only ones yet in the ship were Clary, Isabelle, Alec, Lydia, Jace and Iris. The latter gestured for them to get in the van instead of waiting there. They all reluctantly obliged, except for Lydia; she insisted in staying in case someone from the Circle came back. Iris smiled gratefully, dialing the phone number for the third time. Finally, a woman picked up.

 

“Hey, it’s Iris Lightwood, Magnus’ friend…”

“What happened? Is he okay?” the woman asked in the other end of the line.

“Not exactly. Could you come to the New York Institute ASAP? It’s a real emergency, Magnus’ life depends on it” she wasn’t exactly sure if that was true or not, but maybe that would get the woman to be faster.

“I’ll be there in five” the woman quickly hang up. Iris nudged Lydia lightly and both women got in the van quickly. Since Clary wasn’t in a good condition to take the wheel —and the rest of the Shadowhunters were just a bit hopeless at driving—, Iris was the one to drive them back to solid ground and back to the Institute.

 

 

***

 

 

“Where is he?” a woman asked, entering the Institute as quick as a flash.

Iris, who was sitting in a chair near the door, waiting for the woman to arrive, quickly stood up and rushed to her side. “Infirmary. Follow me”

“It’s been a long time since you last called me, Iris Lightwood” the woman muttered in a low voice.

“Three years” Iris replied absent-mindedly. “It’s good to see you again, Catarina Loss, even if it is in a time like this”

“I’ll do everything in my power to keep him alive” the woman —Catarina— assured her.

“I never doubted you” Iris smiled sadly at her just as they reached the infirmary. “Here we are” she pushed the door open and led Catarina to the bed where Magnus was lying. Alec was sitting next to him, holding his hand forcefully —probably more forcefully than he realized he was doing—. “Alec” Iris called him. He reluctantly looked away from Magnus’ face and straight into his sister’s eyes. “This is Catarina Loss, an old friend of Magnus and I. She is here to help him; if someone can save him it’s her. But you need to come with me and let her work alone”

 

Alec stared back at Magnus for a moment, who had his eyes firmly closed. He then sighed before hesitatingly getting up from the chair. He leaned down for a moment, kissing Magnus briefly and sweetly on the lips. He mumbled something that sounded an awful lot like ‘ _Please, stay with me_ ’ before kissing him again and rushing out of the room, not even looking at Iris or Catarina for a second.

 

“He’s really affected by this, isn’t he?” Catarina asked in a low voice.

Iris simply nodded. “I’ll leave you alone now; I know how important it is to you to be alone while you work. If you need anything, just call me, even if it’s my strength” she hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. “No, especially if it’s my strength”

 

Catarina nodded, and Iris left the room. Her first instinct was to look for Alec, soothe him, reassure him that Magnus would be alright… But maybe what his brother needed was to be alone, at least for a few minutes. Iris sighed and started in the direction of her sister’s bedroom. She was there, lying on the bed, apparently hugging something against her chest. Iris knocked, leaning on the doorway expectantly.

 

“Come in” Isabelle sobbed. Sobbed? Was she crying again?

“Hey” Iris said, slowly approaching her sister and lying on the bed next to her. “Are you OK?” When she was near enough, she realized that what she was hugging was an old, grey pillow.

Isabelle seemed to think about it for a moment. “No” she finally answered, and Iris realized she was being truthful. “Simon didn’t deserve what happened to him. And I don’t mean what happened today, I mean everything. From meeting us, being dragged into the Shadow World, being kidnapped by vampires, and werewolves, becoming vampire… It’s all our fault. And now he could die because we were so stupid as to leave him alone in the Institute when we were going in a suicidal mission” Isabelle turned around to face her sister. “How am I supposed to be OK?”

“If it helps you, Simon is better. And Catarina Loss, an old friend of Magnus, is taking good care of him. I’ll make sure she takes a look at Simon’s wounds as well”

Isabelle shrugged. “It helps a little” she chuckled, but it was lacking of happiness. “Hey, what Valentine said, about what happened in Madrid…, are you worried that now Clary, Jace, and even Lydia, could start asking questions?”

Iris hesitated for a moment before shrugging. “If they ask, I’ll make up something. They don’t need to know the truth, not yet at least”

“Jace is like family. We grew up with him, and he’s Alec’s Parabatai… He should know”

“He will, just not now, please. We’re going through a lot already, especially him. I don’t want him to be worried about me”

“How considerate of you” Isabelle smiled, snuggling closer to her sister. Iris quickly wrapped her tightly in her arms. “I’m glad you’re here. I was always the only girl, and even though Clary is now part of us as well… I missed my sister nonetheless”

Iris smiled, a real smile despite everything that was happening lately, despite the current situation they had in the Institute, with a vampire and a warlock badly injured. “I’m glad to be here as well”

 

 

***

 

 

Half an hour later, Iris and Isabelle walked into Alec’s room without bothering with knocking. As they had predicted, he was curled up in his bed.

 

“Alec?” Isabelle tried. Alec shifted under the covers, but he didn’t look up at them nor did he speak.

“Alec” Iris whispered then, trying to pull the covers apart, but her brother wouldn’t let her. “We just came to tell you, again, that Magnus is going to be fine. Catarina is the best healer in the world, you don’t need to worry”

“I can’t help it, Iris” he finally mumbled. “I can’t help but be worried for him”

Iris sighed. “Isabelle, Jace is in his bedroom, he and Clary are taking care of Simon there, could you go with them? Just in case they need something” Isabelle looked at her, a questioning eyebrow raised. Iris looked at her intently, pleading her to leave. Isabelle finally sighed in defeat and hurried to the door. Iris jumped in bed next to her brother and hugged him tightly. “I can see how much Magnus means to you, and I bet he’d love to see how worried you are for his safety, but you have to be strong. He’s gonna be fine, I’m sure of that, and he needs you to keep faith and not give up, because he will wake up, sooner or later, and the least he’d like to see is his beautiful boyfriend crying and defeated” Iris didn’t actually know how she had managed, but Alec actually laughed at that.

“Did he tell you that?” Iris looked at him, confused. He saw the confusion on her face, so he elaborated. “I mean, did he tell you that I’m beautiful?” Iris couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her lips at her brother’s question.

“He doesn’t need to, I know what he thinks just by the way he looks at you” Iris took her brother’s hands in hers. “Look, Alec, in all these years I’ve known Magnus, I’ve seen him date a handful of people, men and women alike; he didn’t love any of them. And I know this not because he told me, but because of the way he looked at them and the way he looks at you”

“And… how does he look at me?” a small smile seemed to have become permanent on his lips.

“I can’t believe you really need to ask this, Alec” she smiled at him amused. “Magnus looks at you like you’re his whole world, like his entire existence depends on you; like someone had stolen the stars and the moon, and everything that’s beautiful and precious in the universe and put it all over you” Alec’s smiled widened at these words. “Do you believe me when I tell you this?”

“Yes” Alec answered. “Yes, I guess I do”

Iris smiled softly. “Good…” she paused, and when she was about to say something else, the door opened with a loud noise and Catarina barged in, her expression not very pleased or relaxed.

“Iris, I need you in the infirmary. Now” Iris jumped from the bed.

“What’s wrong? Is Magnus OK?” Alec jumped from the bed as well, rushing towards the warlock.

“Alec” Iris said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Go to Jace’s room with Isabelle, please. The least you need now is to worry even more. Go!” she ordered, pushing him towards the corridor. Then she turned towards Catarina. “So? What’s wrong?”

“Magnus is not OK, Iris” she answered. Iris’ jaw clenched. Now it was her turn to be worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, like I promised, here is your extra update!!
> 
> This chapter is also shorter than usually, and it continues the story of the previous one. I apologize for the cliffhanger (again), and I can only assure you everything will eventually get better. Next chapter should be up by Friday, and this may or may not end well.
> 
> But do tell me, what did you think of this? I can promise you I cried like crazy writing this chapter and the next one, so don't think you're the only ones who are suffering with this. Hold on, babies, the angst will end on Friday ;D
> 
> Hope you liked this new chapter!!! :3  
> -C ♥♥


	7. A Short Trip to Hell (III)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our favorite Parabatai have a short scene together. Magnus is bad, like really bad. But there goes the girls squad to the rescue (and so does Alec, of course). Also, Simon and Jace talk a bit; and then someone interrupts them. Alec is like super, super nervous and worried. But we have a happy ending :'D  
> ·  
> ·  
> ·  
> The 3rd and last part of this horrible, terrible plot that I came up with. I'm SO sorry for the angst (if it makes you feel better, I cried like a little baby through all of this, bcs Malec♥).

_ Chapter 7: A Short Trip to Hell (III) _

 

Alec entered Jace’s bedroom to find Clary there, tears streaming down her face. Isabelle and Lydia were nowhere in sight, and Jace reentered the room a moment after Alec.

 

“Hey, Alec” he greeted, hugging his Parabatai and patting his back. “How is Magnus?” he asked when he pulled apart.

Alec shrugged. “Iris didn’t let me see him” at the sight of Jace’s confused expression, Alec elaborated his answer. “Catarina, a warlock and healer, friend of Magnus, came to my room looking for Iris. She didn’t even let her tell me how was Magnus”

“He’s gonna be okay, buddy” Jace said, grabbing Alec’s arm in a comforting way. Alec smiled softly at him.

Isabelle entered the room then, a worried expression clear on her face. “Hey, Clary, would you come with me for a moment, please?” Clary looked at her through her tears; she stared at each of them for barely a second before silently nodding and leaving the room after Isabelle.

“How is Simon?” Alec asked then. He didn’t want to ask with Clary in the room —maybe that was also the reason why Iris didn’t want him to hear of Magnus—.

“Not good” Jace answered. Alec sighed. “It’s weird; he’s still alive, or as alive as a vampire can be, but he won’t wake up or react or anything”

“Iris said Catarina would come later to check on him, once Magnus is out of danger” Jace nodded.

“I don’t know, maybe what he needs is… blood” Jace suggested.

Alec snorted. “Where do we find blood for him right now?” Jace smiled playfully, as if he just had an idea. Alec’s face fell. “I don’t like that look in your eyes, Jace. What are you thinking?”

“This whole situation is really affecting you, right? In case you have forgotten, we have this thing in our veins called blood” Jace said sarcastically.

Alec stared at him wide-eyed. “You aren’t really considering it, right? Have you lost your mind, Jace?”

Jace shrugged. “If it’s our only chance to help, then why not?”

Alec threw his arms up in the air in surrender. “Okay, I don’t want to be a part of this. I’m leaving now” Alec turned around and left the room without looking back at his Parabatai.

“You’re such a buzz kill, did you know that?” Jace screamed. Alec decided to ignore him as he hesitantly walked to the infirmary. He was determined to figure out how Magnus was…

 

 

***

 

 

_"So? What’s wrong?”_

_“Magnus is not OK, Iris”_

“What happens to him? What does he need? I’d do anything to help him” Iris practically yelled as both of them walked back into the infirmary.

“He lost too much blood, we need to make a transfusion; otherwise he’ll die”

“Okay” Iris nodded, reaching for her phone. “I’ll call Raphael, the vampires must have blood to lend us. Which is his blood type?”

“I don’t know, and we don’t have time to find out, so just ask him for O-, universal donner, it would be easier”

“Okay…” Iris said as she walked to the door of the infirmary.

“Wait, Iris…” she turned to look at the warlock again. “I also need your strength, so don’t take too long”

“I’ll send Isabelle and Clary for the blood. I’ll be back in two” she left the room, looking for her sister frantically. “Isabelle!” she yelled when she finally spotted her, leaning against a wall next to Lydia. Both women looked up at her.

“Iris? What’s wrong?” her sister straighten and rushed in her direction.

“You have to go to the Hotel DuMort. Now” she ordered. “Magnus needs a transfusion urgently. Take Clary and Lydia with you if you don’t want to go alone, but hurry, Magnus is bad” Isabelle nodded and started in Jace’s bedroom direction. “One more thing! Don’t mention it to Alec. I don’t want him to get even more worried” Isabelle nodded, quickly running to where, she was sure, Clary was.

 

Iris sighed before going back to the infirmary. Magnus was still lying in bed with his eyes closed. It didn’t seem to be better than before; in fact, he looked the same or even worse.

 

“Okay, here I am” she told Catarina, taking a seat next to her friend’s bed. She then handed her hand to Catarina. “Take what you need, use every drop of my energy if that keeps him going” Catarina silently nodded, grabbing her hand and canalizing her energy.

It was just five minutes later when the door to the infirmary opened and Alec barged in, rushing to the bed. “How is him?” he demanded. Iris looked at him through her eyelashes, looking deflated by the lack of energy. “One of you, answer my question, now” his voice was a mix of angry and pain.

“He needs a transfusion” Iris said, aware of the look of panic that took over her brother’s features. “Isabelle, Clary and Lydia went to the Hotel DuMort; I called Raphael to let him now they were going. They’ll be back soon, don’t worry, Alec”

“How can you ask me not to worry, Iris? Have you seen him? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? Your energy is almost gone, you won’t last long, you’ll collapse soon…”

“If you have a better idea to keep Magnus going until Isabelle is back with the blood, then I’m all ears” Iris said, her energy slowly wearing out.

“Let her take my strength” he offered. “If your energy helps, why wouldn’t mine? And you need to rest, Iris” his sister thought about it for a second before nodding weakly.

“Come here” she whispered, reaching out with her other hand to grab Alec’s. She slid his hand into Catarina, and then she collapsed into the chair, exhausted. Isabelle and Clary better hurried…

 

 

***

 

 

Simon opened his eyes, the sudden light of the room hitting him hard. “What the…?” he started, rubbing at his eyes. He straighten up and looked around.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty” a masculine voice said, apparently from the left side of the bed where he was sitting. Simon looked in that direction and gasped, startled, as he found out it was Jace.

“Jace!” he exclaimed, surprised. “How are you…? Where are we?”

“You’re in my bedroom at the Institute. Don’t worry, you’re fine” Jace answered. Was Jace worried for him? No, it was most likely that he was being nice because Clary was near.

“Where’s Clary?” he then asked.

Jace shrugged. “I don’t know. Isabelle came like half an hour ago and took her away. I have no idea where she went or when will she come back”

Simon then asked the question that really was bothering him. “Okay, why are you being so nice with me?”

Jace huffed. “You almost got killed because of me, because you were left alone at the Institute and Valentine kidnapped you, isn’t it normal that I care about your safety?” Simon looked at him, eyebrow raised in confusion and disbelief. Jace rolled his eyes. “Also, everyone is checking on Magnus —he got badly injured and he needs help—, but we couldn’t leave you alone again”

“It still surprises me that it’s you the one watching after me” Jace rolled his eyes again and opened his mouth to speak again, but another masculine voice cut him off from the doorway.

“Stop complaining, fledgling, at least you’re not alone” Raphael smirked at him. Simon stared at him, even more surprised by the presence of the older vampire there.

Jace looked from one vampire to another before standing up from his chair. “I’ll leave you both alone” he sprinted towards the door and left the room as quickly as he could, giving them the privacy and relaxed atmosphere they hadn’t had in weeks —pretty much since the incident with Camille at the Hotel DuMort—.

“So…” Raphael started, walking slowly towards the bed, “how are you feeling?”

“Tired… As if a thousand elephants had walked all over me” Simon tried to joke.

“Don’t be dramatic, _estúpido_ , you just got stabbed with a Seraph blade. Magnus is much worse than you, to be honest”

“Yeah, sure, because people get stabbed with a Seraph blade every day and survive to tell the tale”

Raphael laughed as he took a seat in the chair next to the bed. “So you’re OK?”

Simon shifted on the bed, unconsciously getting closer to Raphael. “Why do you care about me?” he then lowered his voice. “I thought you hated me…”

“What? I don’t hate you, Simon” Raphael said quickly. He knew if Magnus ever heard of this conversation he would tease him endlessly, especially after profusely telling him Simon was dead to him. But he couldn’t help but being worried for Simon, not after what happened with Valentine in the ship. The thought of losing his annoying fledgling for real was just too much for Raphael.

Simon smiled unconsciously at what the older vampire said. “You called me Simon… You never call me Simon”

Raphael, who obviously hadn’t noticed the name slipping out of his mouth, looked at him startled. “Well, I guess there’s a first time for everything”

Simon smiled widely at this. “To answer your question, I think I’m fine. At least I’m alive”

“Thank God for that” Raphael said, smiling as well.

Simon couldn’t hold back a laugh. “You still have to teach me how to say that word again”

“Which one?” Raphael asked, acting like he was confused, but he knew pretty well what the younger vampire meant.

“You know what I mean, Raphael!” Simon complained, but he couldn’t contain the smile that was forming on his lips.

“You should rest for a while” Raphael suggested then. “Today was pretty eventful, and you need to make a full recovery. You can move back to the Hotel DuMort tomorrow evening if you want”

“You really want me to go back?” Simon looked up at him through his eyelashes, his smiled widening.

"Of course I want you to" for the first time in a long while, Raphael smiled, truly smiled, a small genuine smile that lit up his whole face.

"Okay then, I'll go back tomorrow" Simon's smile matched the one the older vampire was throwing at him, a sincere smile. And for a moment, Simon truly believed that everything would be fine in the end.

 

 

***

 

 

Alec paced the room, his arms crossed and pressed firmly against his chest.

 

"Alec, you're making me nervous, please stop" Iris whispered. "Well, more nervous than I already am anyway" she added.

"Sorry if I can't stop, my boyfriend is dying, do you realize that?"

"He is also my best friend, Alec, so stop!"

 

It had been almost an hour since Clary, Lydia and Isabelle came back from the Hotel DuMort with Raphael. Alec stayed for a few minutes in the infirmary, helping Isabelle and Catarina with the transfusion, but they kicked him out when Magnus became steady again.

 

"I know you're worried as well, but... Hell, I can't lose him now, Iris, you need to understand me"

"I know, Alec... But the transfusion went well, Catarina is healing his wounds, and he's going to wake up soon; you being worried is not helping anyone"

 

Alec breathed deeply, leaning against the nearest wall. The minutes ticked away. No one came out of the room. And a scream echoed through the air. Magnus. Alec quickly jumped, rushing towards the door to see what had happened to his boyfriend now. But Iris was fast enough to stop him.

 

"Don't do it, Alec" she reprimanded him.

"But he's hurting!" he retorted.

"Catarina is the best healer Magnus and I know, and Isabelle is a great doctor. If they can't help him, what makes you think you could?" she knew she was being too harsh with her younger brother, but she needed him to understand and not do something crazy.

 

Alec pursed his lips, frustrated. Then he sighed, leaning against the wall again, trying to calm himself down. Ten minutes later, the door to the infirmary finally opened and Isabelle stepped out.

 

"He is fine" Isabelle said.

"Then what was that scream for?" Alec asked, visibly still worried.

"He woke up when Catarina was working a slightly painful spell on him, but he is okay now... Finally"

Alec let out a relief sigh. "Can we see him now?" Iris spoke for him.

Isabelle shook her head. "Not yet. When Catarina gets out you'll see him, but one at a time" Iris and Alec nodded at the same time, agreeing with what Isabelle said. “I’ll be in Jace’s bedroom, taking care of Simon, just in case you need anything” she said before leaving them both alone.

“See? Magnus is fine, Alec” Iris said throwing her arms around her brother lovingly.

"Yeah..." he murmured, hugging her back.

 

The door to the infirmary opened again, and that time was Catarina the one coming out.

 

"You can see him now" she said, smiling at the siblings.

"You go first, Iris, I'll probably take longer" Alec said, pushing Iris towards the room.

"No" Iris shook her head. "I can wait, you need to see him more than I do" she smiled fondly at him.

Alec smiled back. "Are you sure?"

Iris nodded. "I'll show Catarina out, fulfill the payment and all that. I'll also tell the others the good news"

"Thank you" he smiled, pushing the door open and stumbling inside.

Iris smiled at the sight. "Let's go, Cat" the warlock smiled tiredly and gestured towards the corridor, silently asking Iris to lead the way.

 

 

***

 

 

Alec looked in Magnus' direction. The warlock was laying, eyes closed, on the infirmary bed, the same spot he had been occupying when Alec came in before. The main difference was that this time Magnus wasn't in danger of dying anymore. Alec sighed, relieved.

 

In that moment the warlock opened his beautiful dark eyes. "Hey" he murmured.

"Hey" Alec said back, taking a seat next to Magnus' bed.

"A little bird told me you were worried about me" Magnus said, smiling at him fondly.

"Does that 'little bird' happen to wear high heels, leather pants, a cropped leather top and a whip rolling up her arm?" Alec asked, amused.

Magnus wrinkled his nose and shrugged. "Maybe" he then smiled widely. "I'm sorry I made you worry" he said, suddenly all seriousness.

"Nonsense, Magnus, it's not your fault"

"You shouldn't have worried though. When I told Iris to call Catarina, I was sure I'd be alright"

"Yeah, well, we reached a point when Iris and Catarina herself were scared for your life, so as you may figure yourself, I was obviously worried"

"Strangely enough, I'm glad you were worried" Alec looked at him as if his boyfriend had just grown two more heads. "I mean, if you were worried, you truly care about me. It's nice to know that"

"You stupid warlock... Stupid, stupid warlock, of course I care about you, you dumbass!"

"Well, that's new... You never told me as much before" Magnus’ smile grew wider. Gosh, he loved that beautiful Shadowhunter so much.

"Well, now you know" Alec simply answered, looking down at his hands that were fidgeting nervously with the hem of his T-shirt. Magnus saw this and quickly reached out to hold his boyfriend’s hand in his.

“Hey” he said, trying to get the younger boy to look up at him. “Alec, I’m fine, we’re good, don’t worry your beautiful little head upon this any further, it won’t be of any use”

“I can’t stop thinking about everything that happened in the ship. Valentine said some things… About Iris”

“You haven’t talked to her or Isabelle yet, right?” Magnus inquired, raising his eyebrow at him.

“No, I haven’t…” he admitted. “It’s not like I had a lot of time with everything that happened today, and you got hurt…”

“Hey, I get it… Maybe you should go and talk to them… Though I think I have permission to tell you now that Izzy knows”

“Please, do tell, Magnus. I want to know” Alec pleaded, squeezing Magnus’ hand tightly.

“Okay. Listen closely, please, I don’t want to say this twice” Alec nodded. Magnus took a deep breath, then started telling the painful story that still haunted Iris at night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Isn't this beautiful? Magnus and Simon are both okay (finally).  
> I guess you all know where all this with Simon is going (at least you'll know if you have read the books).  
> I hope it's clear enough that the first few scenes of this chapter were happening at the same time.
> 
> So? What did you enjoy the most? Jalec, Jimon, Saphael or Malec? (I admit my fave part was Malec, bcs I'm a big sucker for Malec, but we have more Saphael and Sizzy to come).
> 
> And I think I'll let you know now that I'm gonna make Sizzy first in this fic, and then transition to Saphael, and then, depending on how much you like it, I'll decide which one will be endgame, bcs I can't make up my mind when it comes to Sizzy/Saphael.
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter!!! Let me know what you thought, pls!! xox  
> -C ♥


	8. The Calm Before The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catarina offers her services for whenever they're needed. Iris and Lydia have a small talk (new friendship rising). Clary and Jace talk about what happened while he was away (more or less). Small Saphael interaction, but we have a little bit of Sizzy too ;). Malec.  
> ·  
> ·  
> ·  
> The last one is the most important? For me it is.  
> Warning: Malec fluffiness in this chaper will make you squeal. I've warned you.

_ Chapter 8: The Calm Before The Storm _

Iris walked down the hall with Catarina. She was smiling happily, and she had a very good reason to it: her best friend was safe and sound, he had come out alive of the attack; and he was now accompanied by his incredibly worried boyfriend. Iris found that cute, the fact that Alec was so worried for Magnus when, judging by what Isabelle had told her, he had fought so hard to hide his feelings for the warlock.

 

“Thank you so much, Catarina” Iris addressed the woman beside her when they were reaching the entrance of the Institute.

“No need to thank me. It’s Magnus we’re talking about, I’d do anything for him” the healer assured her. “And, if you ever need my help again, you have my number”

“It’s nice to know we can count you in, we need all the help we can get, even if it’s just on the healing part”

“I’m always glad to help, you knew that already”

“Yeah, I knew” Iris smiled at her, opening the heavy doors of the Institute. “Again, thank you for coming”

“You’re welcome” Catarina smiled at her. She hesitated for a second before pulling Iris in for a hug. “Tell Magnus to call me more often, will you? It looks like he has forgotten about his old friends”

“I will, don’t worry” Iris pulled away, still smiling. “Hope to see you again soon, and not exactly because we need your services”

“Yeah, it would be good to meet for a normal, mundane dinner sometime”

“I will drag Magnus and Alec along, they could do a dinner date with us”

“That sounds good” the warlock looked at the open doors and then at Iris again. “I really have to go now. See you soon, Lightwood”

“See ya, Loss” Iris smiled while the doors closed. She then turned around and walked towards the kitchen. With everything that had happened that day she had barely eaten anything, and she was starting to feel hungry. She hadn't expected, however, to find Lydia there, sitting in a chair and eating a simple sandwich. "I see I'm not the only one in need for a bite"

"No, you're not" Lydia laughed cheerily. "Isabelle told me that Magnus is fine. I'm glad"

"Oh, believe me, we all are" Iris smiled back at her. "Why haven't you prepared something more... Consistent?"

"I'm not that good in the kitchen" she admitted. "And Isabelle offered, but Alec already warned me about her... disastrous skills in the kitchen"

"Mhmmm... Yeah, Izzy is good at a lot of things, but her culinary skills are not one of them" Iris made a face of disgust to accompany her statement. "Luckily for you, I'm much better than her"

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I have enough with my sandwich" Lydia said with an apologizing smile.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll make something simple then" she turned towards the fridge and grabbed the first thing she saw. "Well, it looks like someone needs to go the grocery store because we're lacking of a lot of things... I'll have to stick to a salad it seems" she looked for the ingredients as she spoke, and once she had put them all in the bowl she sat down next to Lydia. They ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes, and then Lydia decided to speak.

"Iris... I don't know if I have the right to ask you this. I mean, we barely know each other, we met yesterday, but..."

"You're rambling" Iris chuckled and left her fork down. "Lydia, what is it that's bothering you?"

"When we were with Valentine... What he said, about something that you did, and Madrid..."

"I don't think this is the time or the place for that conversation" Iris cut her off.

"Well, I'm really intrigued, I'd appreciate it if you told me"

"Not now. Just... Just know that it wasn't as bad as Valentine put it. He wanted me to do something crazy... And he almost got what he wanted"

"Hey" Lydia reached out to grab Iris' hand, a loving smile plastered in her face. "It's okay, you'll tell me when you're ready"

Iris smiled back at her. "Thank you for understanding"

 

Lydia’s smile grew wider. She then took her hand away and refocused on her sandwich.

 

 

***

 

 

Clary sat in her bed with the Gray Book on her lap. By her mother's recommendation, she was studying the most common runes to have a better idea of their use. So far she hadn't had a lot of trouble with the runes —not that she had needed to learn them, Jace was usually the one to mark her or show her the rune she needed to use—, but Luke had agreed with her mother, and when the both of them agreed on something, Clary usually listened. Usually.

 

A soft knock on her door captured her attention. She carefully placed the book on the bed and went to open the door.

 

"Jace" she said in surprise at the sight of her brother standing there. It still sounded weird, to call Jace her brother after what happened between them, but she had to get to used it.

"Hey" he said in return. He took a look at the room behind her. "Can I come in?"

"Sure" she stepped aside to let him in and returned to her spot on the bed. "So, you needed something?"

"No, just... wanted to talk” he answered, sitting in a chair next to her. “So… You woke up Jocelyn”

“Yeah” Clary said with a smile. “Yeah, we used the Book of the White. Magnus helped us”

“And it’s true… We’re brother and sister…” he muttered in a low voice, as if he didn’t want her to hear him.

“She didn’t deny it, so I guess it is” she looked down at both their hands. Jace’s were fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, something she hadn’t seen him do since… Ever.

“I’m glad you have your mom back” Jace said then, trying to smile at her, though it was hard.

“You should talk to her. You know, she’s your mom too”

“I don’t think I’m ready to talk to her just yet. I need more time”

“Time for what, Jace? We don’t have time. Valentine is still out there, we have to find him and kill him, retrieve the Mortal Cup, stop Camille… There are too many dangers out there for you to ask for more time. I think you need to talk to her, I’m sure it will help”

Jace took a moment to think about it carefully. Then he nodded, exhaling a deep breath before opening his mouth again. “Okay. Yeah, I guess you’re right. I will do that”

 

Clary smiled at that, happy that Jace was willing to try a fresh start with their mother. She reached for the Gray Book again and looked at the runes.

 

“Are you studying the runes?” Jace asked her, an eyebrow raised in surprise.

“Yeah, mom and Luke insisted, and I think they’re right: I do need to learn the runes and their use. What kind of Shadowhunter fights wars without knowing the runes?”

“You certainly have a point there…” Jace hesitantly moved to sit on the bed beside her. “And how are you doing?”

“Fine, yeah, I’m… I think I’m getting good at remembering each rune”

“Do you train every day?” Jace was trying to make small talk. It was natural, actually, brothers usually care about their sisters, don’t they?

“Not every day, but pretty often. Isabelle is teaching me, and Alec also helps sometimes. You know, after Hodge’s betrayal we don’t have anyone in the Institute to train us”

Jace flinched visibly at the mention of their former teacher, friend and mentor. “It seems like you and Alec get along now” he subtly changed the subject to avoid talking about Hodge.

“It’s surprising, isn’t it? We are something akin to friends. Since Valentine took you we’ve been… closer than before. And I also think that being with Magnus makes him less grumpy” Jace laughed loudly at that.

“Magnus truly makes him happy… Or that I’ve been told”

“He does” Clary grinned. “Hey, I’m not sure if you noticed, but since you’re the only one that, more or less, knows Iris… Do you know what Valentine meant with what he said in the ship? About Robert and Maryse reacting badly for something she did”

“I’m as in the dark as you are in that area. Iris usually keeps to herself; if she has told anyone, that would probably be Isabelle or Alec, or both”

“Or Magnus” Jace looked at her, furrowed brow in confusion. “He is her best friend” she explained, but Jace was still giving her a weird look. “Yeah, I know, we were all shocked when they told us, but it looks like they’re really close”

“I would have never guessed that” Jace shrugged. He opened his mouth to say something else, but a knock on the door cut him off.

“Come in!” Clary yelled. Whoever it was who knocked, quickly opened the door and entered the bedroom.

“Clary, have you seen your brother?” it was Jocelyn, and she was smiling for some reason. Both Clary and Jace decided to ignore the pang that hit them at her words. “Oh, Jace, you’re here…” she said when she saw the blond boy sitting next to Clary. “Do you think we could talk for a moment, Jace?”

“Sure” Jace was fast to answer. “Actually, Clary and I were precisely talking about that, and we decided that I really need to talk to you. So… shall we go to the library?”

Jocelyn smiled widely and nodded. “Lead the way, please” she gestured towards the open door. Jace spared Clary a last glance before getting up and leaving the room right before Jocelyn, who closed the door behind her. When she was finally alone, Clary collapsed into the bed, head buried in the pillows, and released a deep sigh. Acting like her feelings for Jace had suddenly evaporated wasn’t easy, and she doubted she could play the part of the loving and caring sister forever.

 

 

***

 

 

When Simon opened his eyes again, Raphael was still sitting in the chair beside him, his eyes closed as if he was sleeping. But Simon knew better, he knew Raphael was awake.

 

“Raph” he whispered, reaching out to shake the older vampire.

“You’re awake” Raphael said as he opened the eyes and shuffled in his chair to take a better look at the recently turned vampire.

“Yes, I am” Simon answered.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, I feel completely recovered now, and after these few hours of beauty sleep, I’m not even tired”

“That’s good, I guess…” Raphael said in above a whisper.

A soft knock on the door startled them. “May I interrupt you?” the melodic voice of Isabelle Lightwood flew to their ears as the door opened slowly, her head popping through the slit of the door.

“Hey, Isabelle” Simon greeted. “Sure, come in” Isabelle smiled brightly at them and opened the door completely.

“Hey” she greeted them. Isabelle took a long look at the older vampire sitting there, surprised to see that he was still in the Institute. “Raphael, the sunrise is in a couple of hours, maybe you want to go back to the Hotel DuMort? I promise to take care of Simon”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea, they need me in the Hotel” Raphael got up from his chair and walked to the door of the room. Isabelle stepped aside to leave him access to the open door. “I’ll be back tomorrow after sunset to take you home, Simon” the vampire promised before leaving the room.

Isabelle stared for a moment at the door closing behind her before turning around to look at Simon. “How are you feeling?” she asked, walking happily to his side and sitting on the bed next to him.

“Much better, really. I don’t know what you did, or how you managed, but I feel better than ever, as if nothing had happened”

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay” Isabelle said smiling, her hand automatically flying to grab his.

“How is Magnus? I heard he was far worse than me”

“He’s good too. Thanks to the blood Raphael gave us for him, and Catarina’s experienced hands, he’s totally out of danger. Actually, and don’t tell this to anyone, I bet my life he already has his tongue down my brother’s throat” she said, throwing her head back while she laughed.

“You really like to tease Alec about his and Magnus’ relationship” Simon smiled alongside with her.

“It was about damn time! My whole life I never once could tease him about his boyfriends, because Magnus is his first. I deserve to tease him for a while longer”

“You should be happy for him, not tease him” Simon reproached her, but he was laughing anyway.

“And I am! Happy for him, I mean. I’m happy for him and Magnus, because they deserve each other so much; they deserve to be happy and have a beautiful future together, for as long as my brother lives at least” her face fell a little, so did Simon’s. She was right about that. Because the time will come when Alec will die and Magnus, being the immortal warlock he is, will live forever with the pain of losing another person he loves. Why was life so damn unfair? “Well, let’s not think about that. Better tell me, what was that about ‘ _going home_ ’ with Raphael tomorrow?”

“Oh, that” Simon laughed a bit. “Apparently the vampires want me back at the Hotel, Lily misses me or something, and I think Raphael does too, but he doesn’t want me to think that he’s worried”

“Raphael doesn’t like to show his feelings, does he?”

“He reminds me of someone I know” Simon said mockingly.

“Are you saying that I hide my feelings too, Lewis?” her tone was high-pitched, with a fake tone of annoyance.

He seemed to think about if for a minute before nodding. “Yes, I’m saying exactly that”

“Well, I’ll have you know that I was really worried about you”

Simon looked startled. “Really?” Isabelle nodded without hesitation. “Wow, first Jace, now you… How many more surprises are awaiting me today?”

Isabelle laughed at that. “Maybe I wasn’t very fond of you at first, but once I got to know you better… You really are something, Simon Lewis” her smile was kind and warm, and Simon’s heart skipped a beat at her sudden confession. “And, I can’t help but feel bad for everything that happened to you since we came into your life. Simon, you didn’t deserve what happened to you, and sometimes I wish we hadn’t met you and dragged you into our world” Simon’s face fell at that. For a moment he had thought she really cared about him, but it was all born out of guilt; she felt guilty for what had happened to him. “But when I think about it, you truly have become someone important in my life, and I don’t know if I’d be the same person I am now hadn’t I met you. So thank you”

Simon looked up at her, shaking his head to get out of his daze. “Thanks for what?”

“For being you? For coming into our lives?” she said, but it came more as a question. “I’m not really sure, I just know I’m glad I met you”

“I think that’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard you say. At least to me”

“And I think it’s time to change that” she leaned closer to him, her eyes locked with his.

“What are you doing, Iz…?” he asked, his voice nothing more than a whisper.

“Shhh…” Isabelle whispered, her lips hovering above his. Their lips touched, a slight brush of lips, nothing more, but Simon found himself wanting more. When Isabelle pulled away, Simon chased her lips. He didn’t know why did he do it, but he did, and he liked it. Isabelle’s lips were soft and sweet, and the desire and want inside him increased with each passing second. Their lips met again, and this time the kiss was longer. Isabelle tilted her head to the side, deepening the kiss, and her lips parted to allow Simon’s tongue in. Before pulling away, Simon nipped at her bottom lip. He thought he had been careful, but as the metallic taste of blood hit his taste buds, he realized he had bitten too hard.

“Sorry” he said as he pulled away. “I got a little too carried away”

Isabelle chuckled. “No need to worry” she said and leaned in to kiss him again. She didn’t know what had made her so desperate to kiss him. Maybe it was the fact that he almost died that day, maybe knowing that she could lose him made her realize that she felt something for him. She wasn’t sure, but she couldn’t say she cared about it either. In that moment she only knew that she was kissing Simon, and Simon was kissing her back, and nothing else mattered as long as he wanted her.

 

 

***

 

 

Alec stared blankly at Magnus for a few seconds, silently waiting for the words to sink in. “Iris had a Parabatai that died because Camille Belcourt killed her” was what first left his mouth when he spoke.

“Yup, basically that sums up everything that I told you in the last ten minutes, my dear” Magnus said a bit sarcastically.

“Sorry, but I can’t just… I can’t believe this. I can’t believe she didn’t tell us, her family, about the pain she was in, we could’ve helped her”

“She didn’t want help. Trust me, I know, I tried to help her countless times, but you know how stubborn she is”

“Do you realize Camille is always in the middle of everything that happens to us?” Alec seemed really pissed at this. “She kidnapped and killed Simon. She had the Book of the White and we had to free her in order to get it. She kissed you to… to fuck up with our minds, because that’s really the only explanation I can find as to why she kissed you. She made Simon sign that stupid Writ of Transmutation so we couldn’t accuse her of killing mundanes. And now you tell me she is the reason my sister suffered one of the worst tortures a Shadowhunter can go through? If Iris doesn’t kill her, I will; gladly in fact”

“Alexander, dear, it’s touching how much you care for your sister, but she’s an adult and she sure as hell knows how to take care of herself” Magnus tried to calm him. “If it makes you feel better, I think Iris is currently planning how to kill Camille, so…”

Alec sighed, sitting again in the chair next to Magnus’ bed. “I’m sorry, I just… I guess I’m so used to be the protective brother, I can’t just sit down and chill when my family is suffering like this”

“Iris has been by her own her whole life, she can handle Camille” Magnus assured him with a smile.

“If you say so…” Alec muttered, another sigh escaping his lips.

“Hey” Magnus said then, reaching out to grab Alec’s hand in his, “it’s getting late. Why don’t we go to bed now and continue this conversation when we wake up? I need my fair share of beauty sleep to help my recovery”

Alec smiled at this, like really smiled after everything that had happened that day. “Yeah, let’s do that… I probably should have left already, you need your space and I’m just bothering you”

“You never bother me, Alexander” Magnus assured him with a smile.

Alec’s smile grew wider. “Anyway, I’ll leave now” Alec got up, starting his way towards the infirmary door to leave.

“Wait” Magnus stopped him, pulling at his hand to make him stay, “why don’t you stay with me tonight?”

“You sure of that? If my mom or dad come here while we’re sleeping, they will probably have a heart attack. And then they’ll kick me out of the Institute”

“If that happens, then you have plenty of space back at my place” Magnus suggested.

Alec seemed to consider it for a second, his hand never letting go of Magnus’. He finally nodded, gently squeezing Magnus’ hand. “Okay, I’ll stay”

“Good” Magnus said, slowly shuffling in bed to make space for Alec to fit in. The Shadowhunter untied his shoelaces and kicked his boots out before climbing into the bed next to Magnus. The warlock snuggled closer to him, resting his head on Alec’s chest.

“Good night, Magnus” the Shadowhunter whispered, silently wrapping Magnus in a tight hug.

“Good night, Alexander” the warlock said back. And just like that, both men quickly drifted to sleep wrapped in the other’s loving embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I think I already mentioned that I'll be doing Sizzy first, so here you have their first kiss :)  
> Don't worry if you ship Saphael, bcs that's coming too, just give it some time.
> 
> Who else thought Malec are just too cute and adorable for this world? Because I did.
> 
> ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ···
> 
> BAD NEWS: This is the last chapter I'm going to post in a while.  
> SO SORRY! But I have a good reason, and that's that I need time to catch up with my writing and I have to study A LOT for two exams I have in September. This being said, if I'm able to write a few more chapters during the nights, I may as well post a new chapter each two weeks, but I won't promise anything.
> 
> I hope you don't give up reading this story while I'm studying :(
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
> Kisses!!! ♥  
> -C


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